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3 


THE  NEWS-LETTER  PRESS 
EXETER,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 


PREFACE 

The  descriptions  of  Old  Exeter ,  embodied  in  these  pages,  are 
taken  from  occasional  papers  read  before  clubs  and  from  notes 
made  during  the  last  years  of  Dr.  Perry^s  life.  Blessed  with 
a  memory  of  remarkable  tenacity  and  accuracy,  he  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death  the  only  resident  of  the  town  to  whom  most  of 
the  facts  here  recalled  were  known.  It  seems  desirable  that  these 
records  of  conditions  long  since  passed  away  be  preserved  for 
the  benefit  of  posterity.  This  little  book  may  also  serve  as  a  me- 
morial of  the  gentle,  modest  life  of  a  citizen  of  Exeter  who  spent 
three  score  years  and  more  in  effective  service  of  his  fellow  men. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction       . vii 

Town  and  Meeting  House 1 

Hemlock  Side 13 

The  Gaerison  House 22 

Front  Street  in  1830      .......  30 

The  Academy  in  the  Thirties 69 

Outdoor  Parties        .       . 79 

College  Expenses 80 

Colored  Folk  of  Old  Exeter 82 

Abolitionists  of  Exeter 86 

The  Public  Schools  in  1850         .        .       .       .       .92 

Commercial  and  Domestic  Life 99 


INTRODUCTION 

DR.  WILLIAM  OILMAN  PERRY,  the  author  of 
the  accompanying  sketches,  was  born  in  Exeter 
on  the  21st  of  July,  1823,  and  died  on  the  2d  of 
August,  1910.  His  father  was  Dr.  William  Perry,  and  his 
mother  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Oilman  and  niece 
of  Governor  John  Taylor  Oilman.  His  life  was  spent 
mostly  in  his  native  town.  In  his  boyhood  he  attended 
one  or  two  private  schools,  taught  for  short  seasons  by 
recent  graduates  of  the  Academy,  and  for  a  while  was 
at  school  in  Bradford,  Hving  with  his  uncle.  He  entered 
the  Academy  when  ten  years  of  age,  was  fitted  for  college 
and  graduated  at  Dartmouth,  a  fair  scholar,  in  1842. 

During  all  these  years  he  showed  the  same  character- 
istics that  marked  his  later  life.  He  was  thoroughly 
good-hearted,  amiable,  and  generous.  He  dehghted  in 
our  sports,  was  an  active  and  enthusiastic  ball  player, 
skater,  and  swimmer;  and  at  all  games,  though  eager 
to  win,  was  a  fair  and  honest  champion.  In  college  it 
was  the  same.  As  the  college  phrase  had  it,  he  was 
'^popular.''  Everybody  liked  him,  and  the  friendships 
with  the  best  men  of  his  college  days  lasted  through 
their  lives. 

On  leaving  college  he  began  the  study  of  medicine 
with  his  father,  adding  to  this  office  experience  lectures, 
first  at  a  school  in  Pittsfield,  and  afterwards  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York  where 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION 

in  regular  course  he  graduated.  Later  he  spent  a  year 
of  study  in  Paris. 

He  was  married  in  1849  to  Lucretia  Morse  Fisk,  who 
lived  till  1896.  All  who  were  fortunate  in  knowing  her 
may  well  remember  the  charm  she  gave  to  the  home, 
and  recognize  the  aid  and  comfort  that  must  have  come 
from  her  cool,  even  tempered  judgment.  Since  her 
death  his  daughter's  family  have  made  up  the  happy 
home. 

When  his  professional  hfe  began,  he  had  the  inestima- 
ble advantage  of  advice  and  suggestion  from  his  father, 
who  was  still  vigorous  and  a  much  trusted  medical 
authority  in  a  wide  circuit.  He  was  an  apt  pupil.  And 
so  for  many  years,  during  his  father's  life  and  after  his 
death,  he  made  the  daily  round  of  the  typical  family 
physician,  kindly,  devoted,  patient,  ready  with  the  best 
help  science  afforded  for  the  various  ills  of  humanity. 
What  miles  of  riding  were  his  through  snow  and  rain 
and  darkness  to  answer  the  many  anxious  calls  at  all 
hours  and  in  all  seasons!  How  many  scenes  of  sorrow 
and  despair  must  he  witness!  What  desperate  cases  of 
accident  and  disease  waiting  for  his  judgment  must  he 
ponder  upon  alone!  Is  there  any  career  more  worthy  of 
oiu"  affectionate  regard?  Through  it  all  a  serene  self 
reliance  and  innate  common  sense  were  his  support.  He 
had  learned  much  from  teachers  and  books,  but  it  was 
measured  and  modified  by  what  his  own  eyes  taught 
him. 

Moreover,  besides  all  this  he  was  actively  interested 
in  all  that  concerned  the  public  good  of  the  town,  the 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

establislimeiit  of  the  Library,  the  Seminary,  the  public 
schools,  the  hospital,  and  he  was  for  forty-four  years  a 
trustee  of  the  State  Hospital  at  Concord. 

Such  was  his  busy  life  for  many  years,  interrupted 
by  one  or  two  European  trips  and  visits  to  some  of  our 
own  cities.  As  years  increased  and  deafness  came  upon 
him,  with  great  reluctance  he  gradually  gave  up  the 
active  professional  calls.  It  was  a  hard  trial.  Every- 
where he  had  been  the  welcome  visitor,  the  true  friend, 
the  trusted  confidant  and  adviser.  He  missed  his 
country  rides  and  the  greetings  of  his  many  friends. 
He  found,  however,  some  recompense  in  the  greater 
leisure  for  reading  and  for  more  frequent  visits  to  rela- 
tives in  neighboring  towns. 

For  many  years  my  own  home  was  elsewhere,  but  I 
spent  most  of  the  summers  in  Exeter  and  was  his  happy 
companion  in  most  of  his  country  rides.  For  the  last 
few  years,  when  I  have  had  my  home  here  again,  we 
have  been  continually  together,  taking  many  strolls  about 
the  village.  During  these  or  when  we  were  sitting  side 
by  side  in  his  sunny  southern  parlor,  he  was  glad  to  revive 
old  scenes  common  to  both  our  memories,  when  Exeter 
was  an  isolated  village  without  a  single  foreigner;  and 
stage  coaches  and  chaises  and  ox  teams  were  familiar 
objects  in  the  streets.  And  besides  these  scenes  and 
pictures  v/ere  the  men  and  women  long  since  gone;  the 
dignified,  venerable,  and  gracious;  the  odd,  erratic,  and 
amusingly  grotesque.  The  many  incidents  of  the  simple, 
hospitable,  contented  life  of  the  elder  day  he  was  happy 
in  recalling. 


X  INTRODUCTION 

And  so  the  last  weeks  slipped  away  quietly.  The 
walks  grew  shorter  and  at  last  were  confined  to  his 
garden.  For  a  few  days  he  kept  his  chamber,  and 
gently  passed  away  greatly  mourned  by  all,  the  last  of 
my  early  playmates,  —  the  faithful  friend  of  more  than 
four  score  years. 

N.    E.    SOULE. 
Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  April,  1913. 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE 

Read  at  the  Annual  Parish  Supper  of  the  First  Church,  February,  1904 

IMAGINE  a  house  heated  only  by  fireplaces,  without 
furnace  or  stoves;  bedrooms  with  fires  only  when  there 
was  sickness;  ice  in  summer  only  in  a  few  houses,  the 
well  the  refrigerator,  where  were  suspended  buckets 
containing  butter  and  other  articles  that  needed  to  be 
kept  cool;  in  the  outside  world  no  railroads,  telegraph 
or  telephone, — and  you  have  the  conditions  that  awaited 
me  on  my  introduction  to  Exeter. 

In  spite  of  these  disadvantages  I  must  say  that  I  had 
a  very  happy  and  pleasant  boyhood,  with  many  nice 
playmates,  and  a  number  of  hospitable  and  refined 
homes  where  I  was  always  sure  of  a  welcome.  But 
alas!  of  all  that  circle  I  am  almost  the  only  one  left- 
I  think  of  only  three  now  living  who  were  schoolmates 
of  mine.  But  these  reminiscences  are  not  what  is  ex- 
pected from  me,  the  Town  and  the  Meeting-House 
being  my  theme. 

I  will  confine  myself  to  that  part  of  the  town  with 
which  as  a  boy  I  was  most  familiar,  from  Dr.  Gorham's 
on  Front  Street  to  the  Gilmans'  across  the  river.  I  think 
the  portion  of  Water  Street  from  the  foot  of  the  Square 
to  Great  Bridge  was  called  Mill  Street.  On  it  were  a 
saw  mill  and  a  machine  shop,  which  had  formerly  been 
a  woolen  mill.    Mr.  Charles  Folsom^s  block  has  replaced 


2  EXETER  IN  1830 

the  long  wooden  house  of  John  Ward  Oilman.  One  of 
Mr.  Oilman's  daughters  was  asked  if  she  had  seen  a 
new  sign  on  the  Folsom  tavern  opposite.  She  replied: 
''No,  I  have  not  seen  it;   our  folks  don't  speak.'^ 

Along  Water  Street  were  very  ordinary  wooden 
buildings,  with  only  three  of  brick,  two  of  which  remain 
and  are  occupied  by  the  stores  of  Mr.  Fleming  and  Mr. 
Bartlett.  The  third  was  larger,  and  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Merrill  block.  In  the  house  now  occupied 
by  Mr.  Patrick  Connors  formerly  dwelt  Mr.  Francis 
Orant,  a  pleasant  little  man,  fond  of  flowers  and  some- 
thing of  a  botanist.  The  house  contained  his  book  store, 
bindery,  and  circulating  library.  The  store  was  a 
favorite  resort.  Mr.  Orant  was  the  publisher  of  the 
''New  Hampshire  Book,"  which  was  largely  used  in  the 
schools  of  the  state,  and  a  very  useful  book  it  was.  It 
was  written  by  Mr.  Hildreth,  a  former  instructor  in  the 
Academy.  The  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  John  PhilHps, 
on  the  site  of  the  McKee  block,  was  a  two-story  house 
similar  to  that  of  the  principal  of  the  Academy;  the 
level  of  the  street  had  been  raised  so  much  that  you 
had  to  go  down  steps  to  the  entrance.  Nearly  opposite 
was  the  fine  residence  of  Judge  Peabody,  a  gentleman 
distinguished  in  town  and  state.  He  died  when  I  was 
seven,  but  I  do  not  remember  him,  though  I  remember 
Oovernor  Oilman,  who  died  two  years  earlier. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  Square,  the  beginning  of 
"Court  Street,"  as  Front  Street  was  then  called.  The 
town  hall  and  court  house  have  replaced  two  old  fash- 
ioned houses;    the  other  side  is  much  as  it  was.     The 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE  3 

old  court  house  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  Square,  with 
a  roadway  on  either  side  of  it.    The  main  front,  I  am 
quite  certain,  was  toward  Water  Street;    at  any  rate 
that  end  was  more  elaborately  finished,   though  the 
other  end  was  more  commonly  used  for  entrance.     It 
was  a  fine  looking  building  of  two  stories.    The  court 
room  was  on  the  second  floor;   the  first  floor  was  never 
used  that  I  can  remember  except  for  the  yearly  fan-  of 
the  Seaman's  Friend  Society.    That  fair  was  an  Exeter 
institution,  much  patronized  by  our  own  people  and 
their  friends  from  out  of  town.    The  court  room  was 
used  for  town  meeting  and  for  lectures.    It  had  a  gallery. 
There  was  no  pubhc  hall  in  town  except  a  smaU  one  m 
the  Burley  tavern. 

The  sessions  of  court  were  usually  attended  by  crowds, 

and  the  town  was  well  filled,  as  those  from  a  distance 

were  compelled  to  spend  the  night.    The  most  prominent 

advocates  of  the  county  at  that  time  were  Mr.  Ichabod 

Bartlett,  of  Portsmouth,  and  Mr.  George  Sullivan,  of 

Exeter,  though  there  were  many  other  able  lawyers  at 

this  bar.    There  was  a  greater  display  of  oratory  in  the 

arguing  of  cases  at  that  time  than  now.    Mr.  Sullivan 

was  a  natural  orator,  and  even  we  boys  liked  to  go  into 

the  gallery  and  listen  to  his  musical  voice  and  weU- 

rounded  periods,  although  we  were  not  old  enough  to 

appreciate  his  argument. 

The  court  house  being  surrounded  by  the  street  on 
all  sides,  the  judges  and  lawyers  were  disturbed  by  the 
noises  of  the  bustling  town,  and  by  their  wish  it  was 
removed  to  the  present  Court  Street.    I  remember  well 


4  EXETER  IN  1830 

the  moving  of  the  building,  which  was  large  and  very- 
heavy;  it  was  moved  on  rollers  by  two  long  lines  of 
oxen.  It  did  not  remain  long  in  its  new  place,  for  one 
evening  after  an  exhibition  called  ''The  Conflagration 
of  Moscow'^  it  was  burned  completely  up.  It  was  re- 
placed by  the  building  known  as  the  ''old  town  hall.'' 

Until  the  court  house  was  moved  the  entrance  to 
what  is  now  Court  Street  was  closed  by  a  pair  of  bars. 
Beginning  from  Franklin  Street,  all  east  of  Front  Street 
was  one  vast  field,  and  there  were  only  three  houses 
therein.  One  is  still  standing  opposite  Mr.  Fogg's 
blacksmith  shop.  It  was  occupied  by  a  family  named 
York,  in  which  there  was  a  set  of  triplets  named  George 
Washington,  Andrew  Jackson,  and  John  Quincy  Adams. 
Another  house,  the  home  of  Mr.  John  Moulton,  stood 
where  the  Unitarian  church  now  stands.  It  was  reached 
by  a  lane,  which  is  now  Elm  Street.  Then  there  was  a 
little  one-story  house,  occupied  by  a  negro  named  Whit- 
field, near  where  the  Misses  Jewell  live.  Whitfield's  lane, 
now  Elliot  Street,  led  to  it,  and  was  continued  up  to  the 
farm  house  of  Colonel  N.  Oilman,  near  the  Eddy. 

When  Court  Street  was  laid  out  and  continued  to 
Kensington,  it  shortened  the  distance  to  Haverhill  some 
two  miles.  Two  lines  of  stages  ran  from  here  to  Boston, 
one  by  the  way  of  Newburyport  and  Salem,  and  the 
other  through  Haverhill  and  Andover. 

The  land  which  is  now  the  beginning  of  Court  Street 
was  bought  by  two  or  three  gentlemen,  and  what  was 
the  original  town  hall  lot  was  given  by  them  to  the  town 
for  a  public  building  for  town  purposes.    At  the  time  of 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE  5 

the  erection  of  the  high  school  building  there  was  great 
discussion  as  to  whether  it  could  be  placed  on  that  lot, 
as  the  new  school  house  was  to  be  built  and  used  by  the 
first  district,  and  not  by  the  town.  The  objections, 
however,  came  to  nothing. 

Near  the  bars  which  closed  Court  Street  stood  the 
hay  scales,  a  high  structiu-e  with  long  chains  hanging 
down,  which  were  fastened  to  the  hubs  of  the  wheels 
of  a  haycart  when  it  was  lifted  from  the  ground  and 
weighed.  The  boys  dehghted  in  swinging  with  those 
chains.  Where  the  Squamscott  now  stands  was  a 
dwelling  house,  and  next  to  it  a  three-story  wooden 
building,  the  chief  hotel  of  the  town,  kept  by  Colonel 
Burley.  Back  of  this  were  stables  for  the  use  of  the 
various  stage  lines,  which  changed  their  horses  here. 

The  Methodist  church  stands  on  the  site  of  an  old 
house  originally  belonging  to  Deacon  Samuel  Brooks, 
whose  initials  may  still  be  seen  on  a  stone  post  in  front. 
We  children  went  to  a  school  there,  kept  by  Miss  Mary 
Warren.    The  tuition  was  two  dollars  for  ten  weeks. 

The  Academy  had  at  that  time  only  its  wooden  reci- 
tation building  and  the  principaFs  house. 

When  my  father  was  married,  in  1818,  he  lived  for  a 
few  months  in  a  house  on  the  Seminary  lot,  then  deciding 
that  it  was  too  far  out  of  the  village  for  a  doctor,  ex- 
changed it  for  our  present  house.  Next  to  the  house  of 
Dr.  Gorham  was  a  large  field,  and  an  ancient-looking 
house  was  there,  built  of  the  old-fashioned  large  sized 
brick.  I  was  sorry  to  see  it  torn  down,  for  it  seemed 
very  old.    It  was  inhabited  by  a  singular  man  named 


6  EXETER  IN  1830 

Dennett  Oilman;  and  his  Man  Friday,  named  Miles, 
was  more  singular  than  his  master.  Cattle  shows 
used  to  be  held  on  that  field,  and  the  wind-up  was  a 
dance  in  the  old  house.  I  have  heard  the  story  that  at 
one  of  these  fairs  a  well-known  citizen  offered  for  sale 
Bibles  and  rum  on  the  same  table. 

Now  for  some  reminiscences  of  the  First  Church.  I 
suppose  I  began  my  attendance  there  at  the  age  of  three 
or  three  and  a  half  years,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  to 
hear  the  remarks  of  some  infant  during  the  service. 
Outwardly  the  building  is  unchanged  except  in  the  color 
of  the  paint,  which  in  the  time  of  my  boyhood  was 
white.  The  fence  was  of  oaken  posts  set  at  regular 
intervals  and  connected  by  two  lines  of  strong  chains, 
a  resting  place  for  the  boys  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  outside  entrance  of  the  building  was  the  same  as 
now.  Two  doors  led  from  the  vestibule  directly  into 
the  audience  room.  (The  middle  door  in  the  vestibule 
was  added  later  when  the  building  was  altered.)  From 
each  door  an  aisle  ran  to  the  side  of  the  pulpit,  which 
faced  the  double  row  of  slips  that  occupied  the  middle 
of  the  room.  From  the  main  aisles  two  other  aisles 
branched  off  at  right  angles,  then  turned  parallel,  run- 
ning between  the  square  wall  pews  and  an  inner  row. 
These  square  pews  (of  the  inner  row)  were  extra  large, 
one  of  them  accommodating  the  whole  Odlin  family. 
Square  pews  often  had  extra  chairs  in  them.  A  good, 
broad  gallery  extended  along  three  sides.  It  was  reached 
by  flights  of  stairs  leading  from  the  vestibule.  The 
pulpit  was  high.     I  think  the  sounding  board  must 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE  7 

have  been  taken  down  before  my  time,  as  I  have  no 
recollection  of  it.    The  room  was  very  high,  and  conse- 
quently cold,  and  the  windows  rattled  well  on  windy 
days.     There  were  two  not  very  large  cast  iron  box- 
stoves  near  the  pulpit;  the  funnels  ran  above  the  aisles, 
turned  near  the  singers'  gallery,  and  united  in  a  larger 
smokepipe  that   connected  with  the  outside  air.     In 
winter  it  was  my  delight  to  fill  the  footstove  with  bright 
coals  and  carry  it  to  church  for  my  mother;  and  she  used 
to  pass  it  round,  for  there  were  no  arctics  in  those  days. 
The  pews  in  the  meeting-house  were  made  of  perfectly 
clear  pine  and  panelled.    I  think  they  were  unpainted. 
The  gallery,  pulpit,  and  the  window  casings  were  painted 
white.     The  room  with  its  correct  proportions,  its  fine 
panelHng,  and  its  lofty  ceiling  was  worth  seeing.     On 
Sundays  the  pews  were  well  filled  by  fathers,  mothers,  and 
children,  for  families  were  much  larger  in  those  days 
than  now,  and  all  the  younger  members  were  compelled 
to  attend  regularly.     Some  families  commenced  their 
Sunday   on   Saturday   after   supper,    not   keeping   the 
following  Sunday  evening  strictly.     According  to  my 
earliest  recollections  no  evening  services  were  ever  held, 
for  I  cannot  see  how  the  room  could  be  lighted  with 
the  means  they  had  in  those  days.     There  were  no 
carpets  in  either  the  aisles  or  the  pews,  and  the  coming 
in  of  one  belated  was  noticed  by  all. 

In  prayer  the  whole  congregation  stood  up,  and  lifted 
the  hinged  seats,  and  at  the  end  some  of  the  seats  went 
down  with  a  bang.  There  were  usually  a  good  number 
of  singers  and  of  instrumental  performers. 


8  EXETER  IN  1830 

My  father's  pew  was  at  the  head  of  the  aisle,  facing 
the  door;  any  one  wanting  him  had  only  to  open  the 
door  and  beckon.  It  was  close  against  the  pulpit,  so 
that  the  minister  could  only  be  seen  from  one  side  of 
the  pew.  I  remember  that  old  Parson  Cram,  coming 
to  our  house  one  day  after  a  long  absence,  said  to  my 
father:  *' Doctor,  you  have  sat  so  long  under  the  drop- 
pings of  the  Sanctuary  that  you  have  lost  your 
hair!'' 

I  can  remember  when  Mr.  Smith  was  installed  in 
1829,  and  that  is  as  far  back  as  I  can  go.  They  had 
made  elaborate  preparations  for  the  day,  and  a  grand 
musical  feast  was  expected.  There  was  about  three 
feet  of  snow  on  the  ground,  and  the  day  before  came  a 
great  rain,  so  that  the  streets  ran  like  rivers,  the  water 
being  deep  enough  to  swamp  an  old  fashioned  sleigh. 
It  was  a  sad  disappointment. 

A  short  time  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Smith  there 
was  built  on  the  Parish  land  on  Centre  Street  a  two- 
story  building,  the  lower  floor  being  used  as  a  vestry, 
while  the  upper  was  occupied  by  a  private  school. 
After  the  alterations  in  the  First  Parish  meeting-house, 
the  lecture  room,  so  called,  came  into  general  use  for 
lectures,  concerts  and  so  forth,  supplying  a  long  felt 
want. 

I  remember  distinctly  two  great  assemblies  held  in 
this  building  before  it  was  altered.  One  was  a  trial  to 
break  the  will  of  one  of  the  Cilleys  of  Nottingham. 
There  was  such  a  crowd  that  the  court  adjourned  from 
the  court  house  to  the  meeting-house.    I  went  in,  and 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE  9 

saw  the  famous  lawyers,  Daniel  Webster,  Jeremiah 
Mason,  and  others. 

The  other  occasion  was  in  1838,  when  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  Dr.  Abbot's  principalship  of  the  Academy 
was  celebrated.  Many  eminent  men  whose  names  are 
now  historic  were  present.  There  was  no  hall  in  town 
large  enough  for  the  dinner,  and  as  the  pews  in  this 
building  had  been  cleared  out  preparatory  to  the  altera- 
tions, there  was  abundance  of  room.  Daniel  Webster 
and  Edward  Everett  set  a  standard  of  speaking  that 
the  present  day  would  find  hard  to  equal. 

The  students  of  the  Academy,  of  whom  I  was  one,  on 
the  forenoon  of  that  day  were  marched  down  to  the 
house  of  Judge  Farrar,  where  Mr.  Webster  stayed,  to 
be  introduced  to  him,  and  he  shook  hands  with  us  all. 
I  met  him  again  in  the  evening  at  Dr.  Abbot's,  and 
much  to  my  surprise  he  recognized  me  and  called  me 
by  name. 

There  were  two  uniformed  military  companies  in  town, 
the  Rockingham  Guards  and  the  Exeter  Artillery. 
Their  appearance  called  out  all  the  boys,  and  we  followed 
them  everywhere  with  great  delight.  I  do  not  recall 
their  uniform  accurately,  but  there  was  much  red  trim- 
ming about  it,  and  the  men  wore  very  uncomfortable 
hats,  with  tall  plumes  made  of  red  and  white  feathers. 
They  were  obliged  by  law  to  come  out  on  a  certain  day 
in  May  —  when,  as  I  remember,  it  usually  rained;  and 
some  day  in  autumn  when  the  general  muster  was  held. 
People  can  now  have  no  idea  of  an  old  fashioned  muster, 
so  different  was  it  from  any  military  exercise  of  to-day. 


10  EXETER  IN  1830 

I  cannot  describe  it;  it  was  one  of  those  things  which  to 
be  appreciated  have  to  be  seen.  I  have  attended  them 
in  three  different  states,  and  they  were  all  pretty  much 
the  same. 

I  have  heard  that  John  Ward  Oilman  was  postmaster 
of  this  town  for  forty  years,  but  the  first  postmaster 
whom  I  remember  was  Timothy  Gridley,  a  strong 
Democrat  in  this  Federal  town.  He  was  a  tinman  by 
trade,  and  carried  on  a  large  business,  sending  carts 
loaded  with  his  wares  long  distances  from  home.  His 
shop  was  on  High  Street,  in  the  old  building  on  the  top 
of  the  rise  just  beyond  Great  bridge.  Here  was  later 
kept  the  popular  ladies'  store  of  the  town.  The  next 
postmaster  was  Jewett  Hoyt,  who  lived  in  the  old  house 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  He  removed  the 
office  afterwards  to  the  Brooks  house  at  the  corner  of 
Front  and  Centre  Streets,  where  it  was  taken  care  of 
by  his  daughters.  The  post  office  has  remained  on  this 
side  of  the  river  ever  since.  The  postage  on  a  letter  to 
Boston  was  twelve  and  a  half  cents.  A  great  many 
letters  were  carried  privately. 

One  town  official  who  was  prominent  in  my  boyhood 
was  long  ago  dropped  from  the  list, —  the  town  crier. 
A  colored  man  named  William  Tash  performed  the 
duties  of  this  office.  He  used  to  hang  an  old  fashioned 
string  of  sleighbells  round  the  neck  of  his  horse,  then 
mount  and  ride  about  town,  proclaiming  to  the  people 
that  there  was  to  be  an  auction  or  that  a  child  was  lost, 
or  something  of  equal  importance.  He  had  a  fittle  shop 
,on  Newmarket  road,  where  he  did  hair  cutting.     The 


TOWN  AND  MEETING  HOUSE  11 

first  horse  shoe  that  I  ever  saw  nailed  up  over  a  door 
was  on  this  shop.  I  connected  it  with  something  weird, 
and  did  not  hke  to  go  there. 

The  setting  out  of  trees  in  the  streets  was  much  stimu- 
lated by  Mr.  Wood,  of  Canandaigua,  New  York,  who 
passed  some  months  here  with  a  relative.  He  took 
much  interest  in  the  matter,  and  many  of  the  beautiful 
elms  that  now  line  our  streets  we  owe  to  him.  The  two 
elms  immediately  in  front  of  my  house  were  set  out  by 
my  father  in  1818  or  1819. 

The  robbery  of  the  Exeter  bank  occurred  when  I  was 
five  years  old,  and  I  remember  that  it  was  much  talked 
of.  The  bank  was  literally  cleaned  out,  only  a  few 
coppers  being  left  of  the  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  its 
safe.  All  the  money  was  recovered,  except  about  five 
hundred  dollars,  through  the  shrewdness  of  Judge  Jere- 
miah Smith  of  this  town  who  was  the  president  of  the 
bank. 

But  the  occurrence  that  impressed  me  most  was  the 
miu-der  of  Mr.  White,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  He  was 
a  wealthy  man  without  wife  or  children,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  have  made  a  will  disappointing  some  of  his 
nephews.  He  was  killed  one  night  in  his  bed  and  the 
will  stolen;  but  through  the  masterly  conduct  of  the 
case  for  the  government  by  Mr.  Webster  the  guilty 
ones  were  convicted,  one  committing  suicide  in  jail,  the 
other  being  hanged.  I  remember  going  to  Boston  a 
little  boy  in  the  care  of  the  stage  driver,  and  having 
him  point  out  the  house  and  the  window  of  the  chamber 
in  which  the  deed  was  done.     The  whole  community 


12 


EXETER  IN  1830 


was  shocked  by  this  event,  as  all  the  parties,  including 
Crowninshield,  the  murderer,  belonged  to  the  aristo- 
cratic families  of  Salem.  Daniel  Webster's  success  in 
this  case,  it  was  said,  advanced  his  reputation  greatly. 


HEMLOCK  SIDE 

Read  at  the  Annual  Parish  Supper  of  the  First  Church,  1905 

DURING  my  lifetime  I  have  seen  great  changes  in 
every  department  of  hfe,  and  great  advances  in 
knowledge  and  science.  Many  of  the  inventions 
which  facilitate  labor  and  intercom-se,  and  which  add  to 
our  comfort  in  every  way,  have  been  produced  within  my 
memory.  Yet  with  all  these  advantages  of  modern  life  I 
often  think  of  the  old  pleasures  that  surrounded  me  in  my 
youth,  and  can  truly  say  that  I  have  seen  and  enjoyed 
the  old,  and  can  now  rejoice  in  the  new. 

Seventy  years  ago  the  inhabitants  of  many  considera- 
ble villages,  and  of  the  few  cities  of  New  England,  were 
divided  into  antagonistic  parties  by  a  river  or  by  some 
imaginary  boundary.  In  Boston,  for  example,  there 
were  the  North  and  South  Enders,  and  I  think  the  divis- 
ion was  the  same  in  Concord.  In  Salem  the  Hne  was 
at  the  bridge  between  that  town  and  Beverly,  and  woe 
to  the  boy  that  was  caught  alone  off  his  own  side. 

Exeter  was  divided  by  the  river  into  the  Pine  Side 
and  the  Hemlock  Side,  and  the  dwellers  were  called  re- 
spectively Piners  and  Hemlockers.  The  contentions 
were  principally  among  boys,  and  as  far  as  I  know  no 
serious  affrays  occurred;  but  I  mention  this  as  a  custom 
characteristic  of  the  time. 


14  EXETER  IN  1830 

Let  US  now  bury  the  hatchet,  and  take  a  look  at 
Hemlock  Square  as  it  was  about  1828,  when  it  was  a 
busy  centre  of  trade  and  manufacture,  as  well  as  the 
place  of  residence  of  many  good  and  worthy  citizens. 

Across  the  bridge,  the  first  house  on  the  right  was  the 
home  of  Mr.  Henry  Shute,  his  wife,  two  sons,  and  two 
daughters.  He  died  without  suspecting  that  he  was  to 
be  known  as  grandfather  of  a  popular  author  of  the 
future.  Next  were  the  store  and  dwelling  house  of 
Major  Nathaniel  Weeks,  who  kept  the  varied  assort- 
ment of  goods  usually  found  in  a  store  of  that  date,  and 
had  a  good  trade.  In  the  next  house,  where  Mr.  John 
Getchell  afterwards  hved,  at  one  time  dwelt  General 
Peabody.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  prominent  in  mihtary  and  civil  affairs, 
but  being  arrested  for  debt  he  was  brought  to  the  Exeter 
jail.  He  had  the  privilege  of  the  jail  Hmits,  so  called, 
and  was  allowed  to  Uve  in  his  own  house  and  practice 
medicine  within  a  certain  distance.  He  asked  that  his 
limit  might  be  extended  to  the  church,  but  he  was 
never  known  to  avail  himself  of  his  privilege  on  Sundays. 
General  Peabody  was  a  man  of  superior  talent,  but 
very  profane.  He  was  an  original  member  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Medical  Society.    He  died  in  1823. 

In  the  house  of  Mrs.  Newell  Head  lived  Mr.  Coffin 
Smith,  who  in  my  day  had  retired  from  business.  He 
had  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  married  and 
settled  in  Exeter  in  comfortable  homes  of  their  own. 
It  was  said  that  the  old  gentleman  was  in  the  habit  of 
making  a  round  of  morning  calls  upon  his  children  and 


HEMLOCK  SIDE  15 

finding  out  what  each  family  was  to  have  for  dinner;  then 
he  would  dine  with  the  one  whose  dinner  suited  him  best. 

The  open  lot  on  the  easterly  corner  of  Oilman  lane 
was  occupied  by  two  buildings.  In  one  the  Odhns, 
Colonel  James,  William,  Joseph,  and  Benjamin,  manufac- 
tured carriages,  principally  chaises;  and  Mr.  George 
Smith  made  wheels.  Next  to  this  was  a  building  where 
the  same  kind  of  work  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  Robert 
Shute  and  his  brother  Henry;  the  latter  had  quite  a 
reputation  as  a  seller  of  their  products.  Later  this 
building  was  moved  away,  and  Robert  Shute  built  in 
its  place  a  store,  and  with  his  son  Isaac  traded  there 
for  some  years,  retiring  rich,  as  wealth  was  reckoned 
in  those  days.  Beyond  this  was  the  store  of  Mr.  J. 
Oilman  Smith,  which  stood  in  the  yard  of  his  dwelHng 
house,  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Chesley.  Mr.  Smith  kept 
a  general  store  for  many  years,  accumulated  property, 
and  retired.  Though  we  had  not  the  convenience  of 
an  electric  road  to  Stratham,  he  had  a  large  trade  with 
Stratham  people. 

Close  by  his  house  was  the  blacksmith  shop  of  Mr. 
Joel  Lane,  where  a  great  deal  of  the  ironwork  of  the 
carriages  was  done.  Farther  up  High  Street  Oilman 
Robinson  made  good  and  serviceable  wagons,  and  on 
the  lower  part  of  Auburn  Street  Mr.  Charles  Coffin 
Smith  had  his  paint  shop,  where  most  of  the  carriages 
were  painted.  Between  Joel  Lane's  shop  and  the  house 
where  Mr.  Follansby  now  lives,  there  were  no  buildings 
to  obstruct  the  view  of  Captain  Nathaniel  Oilman's 
beautiful  field,   containing  some  eighty  acres   of  fine 


16  EXETER  IN  1830 

tillage  land.  It  was  originally  owned  by  a  Mr.  Leavitt. 
Captain  Oilman  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  men  in 
town.  He  bought  and  held  all  the  land  he  could,  also 
doing  a  large  trade  on  Water  Street,  receiving  produce 
from  the  back  country  by  oxsleds,  and  West  India 
goods  by  schooner.  He  employed  many  men  on  the 
farm,  as  work  was  done  in  those  days  entirely  without 
machinery.  I  can  remember  seeing  a  dozen  or  more 
men  mowing  the  tall  grass  in  that  field,  swinging  their 
scythes  in  a  line;  and  then  it  all  had  to  be  raked  by 
hand.  People  can  now  have  no  idea  of  the  amount  of 
labor  that  was  expended  in  housing  the  hay  from  such 
a  field  as  that.  Captain  Oilman's  hay  crop  from  all  his 
farms  was  not  fully  gathered  in  till  late  in  the  autumn. 
I  have  spent  many  an  holiday  afternoon  with  the  Oilman 
boys,  raking  after  the  cart.  All  this  great  amount  of  hay 
was  consumed  by  the  large  herd  of  cattle  kept  on  the 
farm,  for  stock  raising  was  considered  profitable  in  those 
days.  It  was  much  easier  then  than  now  for  the  farmer  to 
get  men  to  work,  and  the  men  were  better  and  more 
reliable. 

In  the  house  on  the  corner  of  Portsmouth  Avenue 
lived  Colonel  Odlin,  probably  the  heaviest  man  in  town, 
as  he  weighed  between  three  and  four  hundred.  Where 
Dr.  Mason  lives  was  a  tavern  kept  by  Samuel  Ham,  a 
jovial  man  and  a  noted  horse  trader.  He  left  Exeter 
for  Danvers,  Massachusetts.  His  wife  was  a  Leavitt, 
and  they  had  a  son  about  my  age,  who  died  a  number 
of  years  ago.  He  was  in  some  mercantile  business  in 
Boston,  and  was  quite  well  off. 


HEMLOCK  SIDE  17 

Next  to  the  tavern  was  a  little  building  where  Dr. 
Norwood  had  a  store.  On  one  side  he  had  drugs  and 
medicines  for  sale;  on  the  other  his  wife,  a  very  bright 
woman,  kept  a  few  dry  goods  and  candies.  Every  boy 
of  that  time  knew  the  talkative  parrot  that  hung  in  the 
store.  Mrs.  Norwood  was  the  daughter  of  a  retired 
minister,  Parson  Thurston,  and  they  all  lived  in  the 
house  on  the  corner  of  Hall  Place.  Across  this  narrow 
street,  the  house  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  Colonel  W.  N. 
Dow  was  kept  as  a  tavern  by  Mr.  Kinsley  Hall.  I 
believe  there  were  four  taverns  in  the  village  at  that 
time  and  one  on  Perkins'  Hill.  Below,  in  the  long, 
narrow  building  used  as  a  tenement  house  (since  re- 
moved) Timothy  Gridley  carried  on  a  large  manufacture 
of  tinware,  sending  his  goods  far  south  as  well  as  into 
the  surrounding  towns.  He  was  the  first  postmaster 
that  I  remember,  and  for  years  he  found  room  for  the 
Exeter  post  office  in  his  tin  shop. 

In  the  house  still  standing  close  to  the  bridge  lived 
Mr.  Samuel  Rowe,  an  old-time  trader,  whose  store  was 
on  the  ground  floor  of  his  house.  I  can  barely  recall 
him.  His  daughter  married  Judge  John  Sullivan.  One 
son  went  to  college,  studied  law,  and  settled  in  Bangor 
where  he  became  prominent  in  his  profession;  the  second 
son,  Augustus  Rowe,  died  in  this  town  not  long  ago. 

On  the  Pine  Side  of  the  river  at  the  beginning  of 
Franklin  Street  Mr.  Daniel  Melcher  made  good  carriages 
and  sleighs,  and  a  little  farther  down  the  street  Lewis 
Mitchell  and  Orin  Head  had  shops  of  the  same  kind. 
In  all  these  shops  the  work  was  done  entirely  by  hand, 


■>* 


18  EXETER  IN  1830 

and  the  vehicles  were  not  turned  out  very  rapidly;  but 
they  were  so  thoroughly  made  that  they  lasted  a 
generation.  Carriage  making  had  an  early  start  here, 
and  Exeter  carriages  bore  an  excellent  reputation.  The 
old  makers  were  very  careful  and  cautious  and  their 
output  was  small.  The  business  died  out  for  want  of 
some  enterprising  and  energetic  men  to  succeed  these 
older  ones,  and  combine  the  separate  establishments 
according  to  modern  methods.  There  was  an  excellent 
opportunity  and  I  have  often  wondered  that  it  was 
never  seized. 

On  Pleasant  Street  my  father  built  a  mill  for  the 
manufacture  of  potato  starch,  about  the  first  of  the 
kind  in  this  country.  The  product  was  sent  almost 
wholly  to  the  mills  in  Lowell,  though  the  starch  served 
for  household  use  also.  I  think  no  other  kind  was  then 
made.  The  bags  of  starch  were  hauled  to  Lowell  by 
horses,  the  team  making  the  journey  twice  a  week. 
The  manufacture  of  British  gum  was  after  a  time 
added  to  this  industry.  Up  to  this  time  it  had  been 
imported,  but  the  agent  of  the  Merrimack  Print  Works 
at  Lowell  asked  my  father  if  he  could  not  make  it. 
He  experimented  until  he  succeeded,  and  he  sold  it  to 
them  for  many  years.  The  price  paid  was  the  same 
for  the  last  pound  as  for  the  first,  and  much  less  than 
the  imported  gum  cost.  It  was  used  principally  in 
thickening  the  dyes  of  the  Print  Works. 

When  the  Starch  Mill  started,  potatoes  were  bought 
as  low  as  ninepence  (123/2  cents)  a  bushel,  and  the 
farmers  were  glad  to  sell  them  at  that  price;    but  as 


HEMLOCK  SIDE  19 

this  industry  increased  the  demand,  the  farmers  became 
more  independent  and  tenacious,  and  the  price  went  up 
to  16  2-3  cents  (a  Yankee  shilUng)  a  bushel.  By  this 
mill  my  father  added  much  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
neighboring  farmers.  Farm  produce  was  at  that  time 
disposed  of  almost  entirely  by  barter;  but  from  him 
they  received  money,  and  as  the  yield  per  acre  was 
much  larger  than  now,  even  with  the  low  price  per 
bushel  the  income  was  quite  large.  In  the  fall  of  the 
year,  when  the  crop  was  brought  in,  the  street  would 
be  lined  with  oxcarts,  waiting  their  turn  to  unload. 
I  think  it  was  said  that  some  men  gathered  four  hundred 
bushels  to  the  acre;  we  never  heard  of  the  rot  in  those 
days,  and  I  know  we  had  very  fine  potatoes  for  the 
table. 

The  mill  stood  where  now  is  a  large  wooden  tenement 
house  belonging  to  the  Exeter  Manufactiu-ing  Company. 
The  large  brick  house  next  to  this  was  built  by  my 
father  principally  to  provide  another  cellar  for  his 
potatoes,  as  he  had  to  have  room  for  many  thousands 
of  bushels.  His  mill  burned  down  twice,  and  after  one 
burning  he  had  a  new  one  built  and  in  operation  in 
four  weeks.  During  this  time  he  was  in  full  practice 
of  his  profession,  driving  all  over  the  county.  The 
manager  at  the  mill  for  many  years  was  Mr.  Benjamin 
Lang,  uncle  of  Professor  Wentworth,  a  very  capable 
and  upright  man,  and  extremely  pleasant  to  us  children. 
After  the  mill  closed  he  bought  the  brick  house  on  High 
Street  now  owned  by  Mr.  Russell,  and  lived  there  until 
his  death,  respected  by  all. 


20  EXETER  IN  1830 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  speak  of  the  cotton  mill, 
except  to  say  that  it  was  in  full  working  order  in  those 
days,  with  a  reliable  and  faithful  set  of  American  em- 
ployees. 

The  old  jail  stood  where  the  house  of  George  Leavitt 
now  stands,  on  Pleasant  Street;  in  fact,  I  think  this 
house  is  the  former  residence  of  the  keeper,  much 
changed.  The  jail  itself  was  built  at  right  angles  to 
the  westerly  end  of  the  house,  and  like  it,  was  of  two 
stories  and  of  wood.  The  windows  were  small,  with 
heavy  iron  bars.  The  doors  of  the  cells  were  of  oak, 
some  four  or  five  inches  thick,  studded  with  iron  bolts; 
at  the  side  was  a  small  opening  for  the  passage  of  food. 
The  entrance  to  the  jail  was  through  the  house.  In 
comparison  with  modern  jails  it  was  uncomfortable,  to 
say  the  least. 

Some  years  ago,  as  I  was  walking  down  Washington 
Street  in  Boston,  I  saw  on  the  outside  of  a  building  a 
placard  announcing  an  exhibition  of  burglars'  tools 
captured  by  the  police.  I  went  in,  and  was  much  in- 
terested in  the  display,  which  included  all  sorts  of 
burglars'  implements,  photographs  of  notorious  crimi- 
nals, and  among  other  things  a  huge  key,  labeled  ^^Key 
of  the  old  Exeter  Jail."  I  could  not  learn  from  the 
attendants  anything  of  its  history. 

In  closing  I  will  mention  two  exciting  incidents  which 
occurred  on  the  Hemlock  Side.  In  a  small  house  on 
Portsmouth  Avenue  lived  a  disreputable  negro  named 
Ben  Jakes.  The  house  was  a  great  nuisance  to  the 
neighborhood,  and  finally  a  mob  gathered  for  the  pur- 


HEMLOCK  SIDE  21 

pose  of  tearing  it  down.  Colonel  Odlin  came  out  and 
read  the  Riot  Act,  but  at  the  same  time  encouraged  the 
rioters  by  telling  them  to  ^^Pull  away,  boys!'' 

At  a  later  date  another  mob  gathered  about  the  Meth- 
odist meeting-house  on  the  same  avenue  (a  brick  building 
now  a  double  tenement) ,  wherein  an  Abohtionist  lectiurer 
was  holding  forth.  Stones  and  water  were  thrown  in  and 
the  meeting  was  broken  up  in  the  midst  of  great  excite- 
ment. 


THE  GARRISON  HOUSE  AND  ITS 
NEIGHBORHOOD 

From  a  Paper  Read  Before  Exeter  Chapter,  D.  A.  R. 

I  CANNOT  say  that  I  am  eligible  for  membership  in 
your  society,  but  I  could  claim  to  be  a  Son  of  the 
Revolution,  both  on  my  father's  and  on  my  mother's 
side;  and  this  old  house  was  the  home  of  my  ancestors 
for  three  generations. 

I  can  remember  much  farther  back  towards  the  Revo- 
lution than  any  of  you,  and  can  recall  the  interest  which 
we  young  boys  took  in  everything  pertaining  to  it,  in 
listening  to  the  stories  the  elders  had  to  tell,  and  reading 
the  few  books  we  had.  Fifty  years  after  the  war  we 
had  not  got  away  from  its  influence,  and  the  story  of 
the  battles,  and  of  the  trials  and  sufferings  of  those  in 
the  army  and  those  at  home,  were  familiar  to  us.  I 
remember  one  book  that  I  owned,  and  I  wish  I  had  it 
now.  It  was  a  history  of  the  American  Revolution, 
written  for  the  young;  I  read  it  many  times,  and  always 
with  much  interest  and  pleasure.  With  houses  full  of 
books,  and  pubUc  Hbraries  in  almost  every  town,  people 
to-day  cannot  realize  the  paucity  of  books  at  that  time. 
What  few  we  possessed  were  gladly  passed  around  to 
our  friends  and  neighbors. 

The  old  Revolutionary  soldiers  were  not  all  dead  then. 
I  remember  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith,  who  lived,  as  you 


THE  GARRISON  HOUSE  23 

all  know,  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  the  Colonial 
Dames.  He  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  state,  and  very  genial  and  witty.  He  had  quite  a 
large  library,  and  he  kindly  gave  me  the  use  of  it. 

Mr.  Lovering,  always  called  ^' Daddy,"  lived  in  the 
old  Lovering  house  on  Front  Street,  now  owned  by  his 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Wentworth.  I  remember  him  very 
well.  He  was  quite  short  and  a  great  wrestler.  It  was 
said  of  him  that  he  threw  every  man  in  the  army  who 
contested  with  him.  Tobias  Cutler  had  been  a  slave, 
and  his  freedom  was  given  him  for  his  coiu-age  and 
patriotism.  Jude  Hall,  another  negro,  was  remarkable 
for  his  physical  strength,  and  it  was  said  that  the  parts 
of  his  ribs  that  are  usually  cartilaginous  were  of  bone. 
He  Hved  on  the  Kensington  Road,  and  was  the  prominent 
witness  in  the  trial  of  John  Blaisdell  for  the  murder  of 
John  Wadleigh,  committed  near  the  Cove  bridge  on  that 
road. 

These  Revolutionary  soldiers  of  Exeter  are  all  that 
I  can  recall,  though  probably  I  have  seen  others.  My 
father's  father,  who  served  for  short  periods  in  the  army, 
I  can  remember  perfectly. 

I  will  now  say  a  few  words  about  the  family  who  were 
hving  in  this  old  house  in  my  boyhood.  Miss  Harvey 
has  told  of  the  earlier  occupants.*  The  Clifford  family 
moved  into  this  house  somewhere  about  1788  or  1789. 
Mr.  Clifford  was  a  mechanic,  and  studied  architecture. 
I  have  always  understood  that  he  planned  the  First 

*Jolm  Gilman,  1624-1708,  builder  of  the  Garrison  house;  John 
Gihnan,  1676-1742;  and  Peter  Gihnan,  1705-1788. 


24  EXETER  IN  1830 

Parish  edifice,  which  was  thought  worthy  of  praise  in  a 
prominent  magazine  of  the  time,  and  was  copied  for 
the  meeting-house  of  Saco,  which  burned  many  years 
ago.  He  was  an  ingenious  man  and  designed  a  diving 
bell,  which  was  kept  in  his  barn  and  was  an  object  of 
great  curiosity  to  us  boys.  It  looked  like  a  pork  barrel 

in  shape. 

Mr.  Clifford  was  before  my  time,  but  I  remember  his 
three  daughters.  Clarissa  married  and  hved  near 
Boston,  Eunice  and  Betsey  remained  at  home  and 
carried  on  a  miUinery  store.  It  was  the  leading  one  in 
that  hne,  and  was  quite  successful.  Miss  Betsey  was 
the  last  of  her  family;  she  left  her  property  for  mission- 
ary work  among  the  Indians;  but  as  she  designated  no 
special  society,  some  distant  relatives  attempted  to 
break  the  will.  The  case  was  carried  into  the  courts, 
and  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society. 

Miss  Betsey  was  prim  and  formal,  with  rather  a  cold 
expression,  strong  and  decided  in  her  opinions,  quaint 
in  her  dress.  I  can  recall  her,  wearing  the  old-fashioned 
calash  of  green  silk;  later  she  used  a  small  green  sun- 
shade, which  she  generally  forgot  to  let  down  as  she 
marched  ahnost  the  length  of  the  aisle  to  her  pew  in 
the  First  Church. 

After  her  death  everything  was  sold  at  auction,  but 
I  never  knew  what  became  of  the  diving  bell.* 

The  house  was  bought  by  Mrs.  Darhng,  and  everyone 

♦The  wooden  goose,  wMch  had  served  as  a  float  to  mark  the  position 
of  the  diving  bell  in  the  water,  was  for  many  years  attached  to  the 
cupola  of  the  barn  as  a  weathervane. 

\ 


THE  GARRISON  HOUSE  25 

was  glad  that  it  fell  into  such  good  hands.  Now  it  is 
one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  the  state,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  it  can  be  preserved  in  its  present  good  condition. 

The  street  from  Great  bridge  to  the  String  bridge  was 
in  old  times  called  Mill  Street,  and  as  far  back  as  I  can 
remember  there  were  on  the  water  side  a  sawmill  and  a 
large  two-story  building,  used  formerly  as  a  manufactory 
of  woolens.  At  the  time  of  my  earliest  recollection,  the 
building  was  used  as  a  machine  shop  by  a  Mr.  Derby, 
and  much  of  the  machinery  for  the  cotton  mill  was 
made  there.  Later  it  was  used  for  storage  of  wool  by 
Mr.  Woodbridge  Odlin,  who  made  a  considerable  fortune 
in  the  wool  business  during  the  war.  There  was  another 
sawmill  on  the  island  by  String  bridge. 

Beyond  the  machine  shop  was  a  building  with  two 
stores,  still  standing,  and  next  to  it  the  long  rambling 
house,  replaced  by  the  Folsom  block,  where  the  daugh- 
ters of  John  Ward  Oilman  lived  and  kept  a  millinery 
shop.  There  were  several  of  them,  and  they  were  com- 
monly spoken  of  collectively  as  Debby-Hannah-Betsey- 
Jinny-Johnny-Ward,  the  surname  Oilman  being  too 
frequent  to  be  distinctive.  The  father,  who  died  in  1823, 
was  postmaster  of  the  town  for  forty  years.  His  oldest 
son  was  educated  as  a  lawyer,  settled  in  Bangor,  Maine, 
and  became  the  first  mayor  of  the  city.  The  daughters 
were  little  short  women  and  very  peculiar.  They  were 
very  religious  in  the  old  fashioned  way.  The  youngest, 
Betsey,  was  always  ready  to  act  as  collector  for  charities 
and  the  various  church  calls,  and  enjoyed  that  not 
overmuch  desired  occupation. 


26  EXETER  IN  1830 

The  sisters  supported  a  brother  who  had  formerly 
been  a  sea  captain,  but  was  for  some  reason  retired. 
I  remember  him  driving  their  cows  to  their  pasture  near 
"Cuffee^s  woods.'' 

Many  queer  stories  were  told  of  these  old  maidens. 
One  of  them,  contemplating  a  new  set  of  teeth,  applied 
to  an  acquaintance  who  had  false  teeth  for  the  loan  of 
them  for  trial  before  having  some  made  for  herself. 
But  borrowing  and  lending  were  very  common  in  those 
days! 

When  the  last  of  the  old  sisters  died,  in  1865,  an 
auction  of  their  belongings  was  held,  which  excited  much 
interest  and  comment.  I  wish  you  could  all  have  attend- 
ed it  —  real  antiques,  with  scarcely  a  modern  article. 
There  was  a  great  collection  of  old  moth-eaten  garments, 
and  queer  things  hoarded  and  forgotten  in  unused 
rooms,  and  many  very  old  household  furnishings. 

Next  to  the  Oilman  house  toward  String  bridge  was  an 
old  one-story  building,  which  I  never  saw  used  for  any 
other  purpose  than  a  fishmarket.  Beyond  this  was  a 
rather  large  old  wooden  building  used  both  as  store 
and  dwelling.  The  store  was  kept  by  Mrs.  Ladd  and 
her  sister,  Martha  Oilman;  I  think  they  were  daughters 
of  Deacon  Samuel  Oilman.  They  lived  in  the  Oovernor 
Oilman  house  on  Front  Street.  Having  some  money 
and  being  ambitious,  they  built  the  first  Squamscott, 
afterwards  struck  by  lightning  and  burned.  It  was  a 
building  of  four  stories,  not  so  long  as  the  one  which 
now  bears  the  name.  It  contained  a  hall,  known  as 
Howard  Hall,  a  nice  room,  though  not  very  large.    There 


THE  GARRISON  HOUSE  27 

were  small  balconies  in  front  with  iron  railings.  The 
building  was  of  brick,  well  built,  and  cost  more  than 
the  women  expected.  It  broke  them  financially  and 
they  left  town,  settling  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Ladd  had 
a  son  and  two  daughters  —  bright,  pleasing  girls.  Both 
daughters  married;  one  lived  in  Virginia,  the  other  in 
California.  I  do  not  know  the  exact  date  of  the  building 
of  the  hotel,  but  it  was  in  the  thirties. 

On  the  opposite  corner,  at  the  beginning  of  Front 
Street,  dwelt  Joseph  Tilton,  a  lawyer  of  good  standing, 
his  wife,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Hurd.  Next,  to  the  east,  was 
the  Nelson  house  in  which  lived  a  widow  by  the  name 
of  Roby.  This  house  sat  a  little  back  from  the  sidewalk, 
and  has  been  moved  forward.  In  the  gambrel  roofed 
house  opposite  the  Folsom  block,  now  used  as  a  restau- 
rant, lived  John  Lougee,  a  man  of  considerable  wit.  He 
was  called  ''Putty,"  because  he  did  much  repairing  of 
broken  glass.  He  had  a  family  of  boys,  one  of  whom 
was  George,  the  proprietor  of  the  Sea  View  House  at 
Rye  Beach.  Augustus,  the  oldest  son,  went  to  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  where  he  was  editor  or  proprietor  of 
one  of  the  city  newspapers  and  occupied  a  very  respect- 
able position. 

Mrs.  Lougee  was  a  kind,  motherly  woman,  who  was 
much  esteemed.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Leavitt, 
who  kept  the  tavern  (on  Front  Street)  before  Colonel 
Burley  became  landlord. 

This  Mr.  Leavitt  had  a  son  who  kept  the  old  stage 
tavern  in  Elm  Street,  Boston.  As  a  small  boy  I  spent 
the  night  there,  having  ridden  there  on  the  stage  in  the 


28  EXETER  IN  1830 

care  of  the  driver.  My  father  drove  to  Boston  with 
his  horse  and  met  me  there.  The  next  day  we  drove 
thirty  miles  south  of  Boston  to  visit  relatives.  How 
different  the  travel  in  those  days  from  now! 

Next  Mr.  Lougee's  was  a  double  house,  since  enlarged 
and  called  the  American  House.  It  belonged  to  the 
Fellowes  family.  Old  Mr.  Fellowes  had  two  sons, 
Ephraim  and  Jeremiah.  Jeremiah  went  to  college  and 
studied  law,  but  his  mind  becoming  unbalanced  by 
reason,  it  was  thought,  of  unrequited  affection,  he  never 
was  able  to  practise  his  profession.  He  wrote,  however, 
a  book  of  poems,  which  is  to  be  found  in  our  Town 
Library.  Ephraim  was  a  printer,  and  had  a  large 
family,  of  whom  one  daughter,  and  a  grandson,  Mr. 
Fred  S.  Fellowes,  are  now  living  here. 

Next  was  a  building  built  for  a  store.  I  went  to  a 
school  kept  in  the  second  story  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Dow, 
in  later  years  known  as  Mrs.  Leonard.  This  building 
has  been  used  as  a  bakery  and  much  altered. 

I  have  now  described  this  street  as  it  was  seventy-five 
years  ago,  and  I  have  a  strong  impression  that  I  remem- 
ber this  end  of  Frankhn  Street  before  the  long  boarding 
house  was  built  for  factory  workers.  Near  this  end 
of  the  street  was  a  blacksmith  shop  belonging  to  a  Mr. 
Proctor,  a  very  skillful  and  ingenious  man;  and  where 
now  are  unsightly  buildings  was  green  grass  down  to 
the  water.  In  old  times  all  baptisms  by  immersion 
were  done  in  the  river  by  the  bridge  at  noon  on  a  Sunday, 
and  brought  out  a  crowd.  On  one  occasion  the  railings 
of  the  bridge  gave  way  and  some  were  immersed  without 


THE  GARRISON  HOUSE 


29 


the  aid  of  a  minister.    Among  them,  I  am  told,  was  the 
late  Charles  G.  Conner. 

In  Franklin  Street  lived  Thomas  Oilman,  one  of 
Exeter's  characters.  He  was  quite  a  genealogist,  and  a 
very  ingenious  man,  a  silversmith  by  trade.  He  was 
called  Tommy  Tinker,  and  also,  by  us  boys,  Blenner- 
hasset.  He  was  concerned  in  Aaron  Burr's  treason,  and 
went  to  Ohio  to  join  the  company  that  Blennerhasset 
raised.  Mrs.  Julia  Oilman,  who  so  long  and  acceptably 
acted  as  janitress  at  the  Seminary,  was  the  wife  of  his 
son. 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830 

The  following  notes  were  jotted  down  in  a  blank  book,  at  intervals 

during  the  years  1905-1909,  after  reminiscent  walks 

taken  with  Dr.  Soule 

THE  String  bridge  took  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
at  first  it  was  only  a  footbridge  made  by  a  single 
stringer  stretched  across  the  water. 

An  opening,  now  covered  by  portions  of  the  Wood  and 
Janvrin  blocks  on  Water  Street,  led  to  a  large  building 
used  as  a  grist  mill  and  patronized  by  all  the  towns 
around  as  well  as  by  Exeter.  A  very  sad  accident  oc- 
curred in  this  mill  many  years  ago.  The  miller,  Mr. 
Fleming  (father  of  Mr.  Oliver  Fleming),  was  caught  by 
the  thighs  between  two  very  heavy  cog  wheels,  and 
horribly  crushed.  He  Hved  but  a  short  time,  dying  in 
great  suffering.    I  was  with  him  to  the  end. 

On  Water  Street,  opposite  the  foot  of  Spring  Street, 
lived  Dr.  Tilton.  He  was  born  in  1734,  and  hved  to 
the  age  of  ninety-four.  He  was  a  very  respectable  man, 
and  had  the  chief  practice  of  the  town.  I  remember 
him  as  a  very  old  man.  It  was  his  custom  when  he 
visited  his  patients  to  ride  on  horseback,  carrjdng  his 
medicine  in  saddlebags.  He  wore  small  clothes,  ruffled 
shirt,  and  a  large  wig  and  queue,  presenting  a  venerable 
appearance. 

I  will  now  try  to  record  the  occupants  of  the  houses 
on  Front  Street  beginning  from  Water  Street,  as  far  as 


^-  ^ 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  31 

I  can  recollect  them  about  the  year  1830.  The  house 
on  the  easterly  corner  of  Front  Street  was  then  occupied 
by  Joseph  Tilton,  Esq.  During  the  Revolution  or  later 
it  had  been  kept  as  an  inn  by  Samuel  Folsom,  an  im- 
portant man  in  his  day,  though  not  so  distinguished  as 
his  brother,  General  Folsom.  His  wife  was  an  Emery, 
and  it  was  her  younger  sister,  Margaret  Emery,  who, 
by  her  own  desire,  waited  on  General  Washington  when 
he  took  breakfast  at  the  Folsom  tavern,  and  whom 
Washington  kissed  on  leaving. 

Mr.  Tilton,  who  married  a  daughter  of  the  Folsoms, 
was  prominent  as  a  '^business  lawyer,"  and  stood  high 
among  the  legal  fraternity  of  that  day.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  wit,  A  widowed  sister  of  Mrs.  Tilton, 
Mrs.  Stevens,  with  her  daughter,  lived  in  the  house  in 
my  early  days,  but  the  child,  whose  name  was  Anna, 
died  young.  A  school  teacher  boarded  with  the  Tiltons, 
a  very  bright  young  woman,  who,  on  returning  from 
church  where  a  young  minister  had  preached  in  exchange 
with  Mr.  Hurd,  was  asked  by  Mrs.  Stevens  how  she 
liked  the  sermon.  She  replied:  "Oh,  it  was  a  perfect 
ragbag!"  The  point  of  this  story  is  that  she  afterwards 
married  the  minister,  and,  as  the  children's  story  books 
say,  they  lived  happily  ever  afterward. 

Next  to  Mr.  Tilton' s  was  the  three-story  house  of  the 
Hon.  George  Sullivan,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Sleeper.  On 
the  same  lot,  near  the  Gardner  hne,  stood  his  office; 
and  between  the  office  and  the  line  was  a  driveway 
leading  to  the  stable,  which  stood  quite  far  back.  Mr. 
Sullivan  was  a  son  of  General  John  Sullivan,  of  the 


32  EXETER  IN  1830 

Revolutionary  army.  He  was  a  short  man,  compactly 
built,  of  dark  complexion,  very  erect  and  of  fine  presence. 
He  was  highly  distinguished  in  his  profession  and  as 
an  orator,  and  was  a  member  of  Congress  and  Attorney 
General  of  the  state  for  many  years.  He  was  very  fond 
of  horseback  riding,  and  I  can  well  remember  the  fine 
appearance  he  made  on  his  black  horse.  He  had  a 
large  family;  I  think  there  were  four  sons  and  three 
daughters  who  lived  to  grow  up.  Mr.  Sullivan  did  not 
go  into  society  at  all,  being  engrossed  by  his  large  busi- 
ness, to  which  he  was  devoted,  and  his  wife  was  more 
or  less  an  invahd.  The  sons  were  all  much  older  than 
myself  and  resembled  their  father  in  their  retired  habits; 
the  daughters,  however,  joined  in  the  social  pleasures  of 
the  young  people. 

I  do  not  know  the  year  in  which  the  Gardner  house 
was  built,  but  it  was,  I  think,  some  time  in  the  twenties. 
It  was  built  by  Mr.  John  Gardner,  who  came  here  from 
Brookline,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Gardner  was  a  jovial 
pleasant  man  as  I  remember  him,  and  a  kind,  accom- 
modating neighbor.  He  married  Deborah  Dean,  a 
daughter  of  Ward  Clark  Dean,  and  became  a  partner 
in  business  with  his  father-in-law.  The  business  was 
founded  in  1770,  and  was  carried  on,  when  I  first  knew 
the  store,  by  John  Gardner  and  Son.  Many  can  re- 
member the  old  wooden  building,  which  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  replaced  by  the  building  now  occupied  by 
HilUard  and  Kimball. 

Mr.  Gardner  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter.  Three 
of  the  sons  went  away,  and  George  remained,  continuing 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  33 

in  business  with  his  father,  after  whose  death  he  took 
as  partner  John  P.  P.  Kelly,  who  had  been  clerk  for  a 
number  of  years.  Mr.  George  Gardner  died  not  an  old 
man,  leaving  three  daughters  and  a  son.  Two  daughters 
are  now  hving,  Madame  Bouguereau  and  Miss  Maria 
Gardner. 

My  father  after  he  was  married  in  April,  1818,  bought 
a  house  on  what  is  now  the  Seminary  lot.  The  entrance 
was  from  Middle  Street  by  a  lane.  After  living  there 
for  a  few  months,  he  exchanged  the  house  for  the  one  on 
Front  Street.  I  do  not  know  when  this  house  was  built, 
but  Mr.  Giddings,  a  man  of  remarkable  memory,  told 
me  that  he  remembered  coming  to  this  house  on  an 
errand  in  1815.  The  builder  was  a  Mr.  Rundlett,  a 
master  mason,  whom  I  remember  well.  The  property 
cost  my  father  three  thousand  dollars.  When  he  bought 
the  house,  the  garden  bordered  on  the  street,  including 
the  land  on  which  the  Gardner  house  was  afterward 
built,  and  the  lot  was  not  deep.  Back  of  it  the  land 
was  owned  by  Governor  Gilman,  and  my  father  ex- 
changed his  front  land  for  an  equal  portion  of  the  Gover- 
nor's land  on  equal  terms,  yet  the  Governor  thought  he 
was  doing  a  favor.  The  line  at  the  back  was  made  to 
agree  with  that  of  Mr.  SulHvan's  lot. 

The  next  house  to  my  father's  was  occupied  by  the 
Boardman  family,  but  had  formerly  belonged  to  a 
Rundlett  family.  Mr.  Joseph  Boardman  bought  it 
and  opened  a  store  there.  He  unfortunately  had  to 
have  a  leg  amputated  and  for  many  years  had  to  use 
crutches.    He  was  a  very  pleasant  man,  very  kind  to 


34  EXETER  IN  1830 

US  children.  He  had  not,  especially  in  his  later  years, 
a  very  large  stock  of  goods,  but  his  store  was  the  loaf- 
ing place  for  the  men  of  the  neighborhood  where  the 
news  of  the  day  and  politics  and  religion  were  discussed. 
I  can  see  those  old  fellows  —  they  seemed  old  to  me 
then  —  sitting  on  the  counters  and  flour  barrels,  enjoy- 
ing themselves.  There  were  no  daily  newspapers  at 
that  time;  the  news  was  passed  round  by  word  of 
mouth.  Mr.  Boardman  had  two  daughters,  both  now 
dead.  He  gave  them  a  good  education.  One  of  them 
married  a  Southerner,  who  had  attended  the  Academy; 
the  other  remained  single.  I  retain  a  very  pleasant 
memory  of  the  good  old  man. 

Mr.  Boardman's  mother  in  her  last  years  lived  with 
him.  She  was  insane,  not  violently  so,  but  very  trouble- 
some. One  day  she  was  left  alone  for  a  short  time. 
When  the  family  returned,  they  found  the  door  locked 
against  them.  There  was  a  very  strong  odor  of  cooking, 
for  the  old  lady  had  improved  the  time  in  getting  her- 
self a  grand  dinner  of  onions,  cabbage,  and  other  vege- 
tables. It  was  a  long  time  before  the  anxious  family 
could  gain  entrance.  Another  circumstance  connected 
with  this  house,  which  made  a  great  impression  on  me, 
was  the  suicide  of  a  brother  of  Mr.  Boardman,  a  man 
who  had  been  in  business  in  Saratoga  Springs.  He  cut 
his  throat  in  a  large  shed  which  stood  back  of  the  house, 
and  boylike,  I  was  one  of  the  first  to  visit  the  scene; 
I  did  not  sleep  well  that  night. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  square,  where  the  town 
hall  now  stands,  lived  Mrs.  Dean.    Her  husband.  Ward 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  35 

Clark  Dean,  died  before  my  day,  but  I  remember  his 
wife  well.  She  was  an  old  school  lady,  and  I  have 
pleasant  recollections  of  her.  Mrs.  Dean's  house  was  a 
fine,  handsome  one  of  colonial  style,  two  stories  high, 
with  a  gambrel  roof.  It  had  a  fine  panelled  hall  and 
stairway.  It  was  built  by  Nathaniel  Oilman,  or  by  his 
father,  Judge  Nicholas,  for  him.  Judge  Nicholas  Oilman 
was  a  son  of  Councillor  John,  who  built  the  old  Oarrison 
House,  and  grandfather  of  Nicholas  Oilman,  treasurer 
of  New  Hampshire  during  the  Revolution,  who  hved 
in  what  is  now  the  Cincinnati  Memorial  Hall.  Joseph 
Oilman  and  his  son,  Benjamin  Ives,  lived  in  the  old 
house  until  they  moved  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  being  among 
the  first  settlers  of  that  state.  The  house  as  I  remember 
it  sat  well  back  from  Front  Street,  and  had  a  porch  at 
the  front  door.  In  that  day  the  house  and  its  situation 
were  very  attractive.  The  town  bought  the  place  and 
built  the  present  town  hall.  The  house  was  moved  to 
Franklin  Street,  the  first  story  taken  off,  and  it  still 
stands  in  a  miserable  state  of  dilapidation. 

Next  to  the  Dean  house,  where  the  Court  house  now 
is,  was  the  residence  of  Judge  Tenney.  He  died  much 
before  my  day,  but  the  impression  is  strong  upon  me 
that  I  have  seen  his  wife,  Tabitha  Oilman,  though  I 
must  have  been  very  young  at  the  time.  There  used  to 
be  in  our  house  a  mysterious  trunk,  which  my  mother 
said  belonged  to  Mrs.  Tenney,  and  I  remember  her  as 
coming  to  look  into  it.  She  had  a  literary  turn,  and 
wrote  one  or  two  books;  one,  called  ^^ Female  Quixotism, '^ 
was  popular  in  its  time.    Her  husband  was  a  physician, 


36  EXETER  IN  1830 

and  served  through  the  Revolutionary  war  as  surgeon, 
and  later  was  a  judge  of  probate.  It  was  said  that 
when  about  to  build  a  house,  he  took  his  wife  in  a  chaise 
and  drove  about  in  search  of  a  desirable  model.  They 
found  a  house  which  pleased  them,  and  had  theirs 
built  in  the  same  style.  The  first  family  that  I  remember 
as  living  in  that  house  was  that  of  Judge  Samuel  Bell, 
who  came  here  as  cashier  of  the  old  Exeter  Bank.  He 
had  two  little  boys,  named  John  and  Samuel.  Then, 
I  think,  Judge  Farrar  lived  there  and  took  Judge  Bell's 
place  at  the  bank.  Afterwards  Tristram  Shaw  bought 
it,  and  it  was  used  a  long  time  by  that  family.  It  has 
been  moved  across  the  river,  and  is  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Dana  Baker. 

The  First  Church  has  been  described  in  another  place. 
Opposite  the  church  stood  an  ordinary  two-storied 
wooden  house,  occupied  by  a  Mr.  Proctor,  a  blacksmith, 
elsewhere  spoken  of.  It  was  torn  down  or  moved,  and 
the  Squamscott  built  there.  The  next  house,  a  large 
three-storied  building,  was  the  old  stage  tavern;  I  do 
not  think  it  had  any  particular  name.  It  was  kept  by 
Colonel  James  Burley,  an  energetic  man  who  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  town  affairs,  was  usually  moderator  at 
town  meeting,  rather  pompous  in  manner  and  decided 
in  opinion.  As  one  of  his  townsmen  said  of  him,  ''Col- 
onel Burley  never  had  a  doubt."  He  continued  landlord 
until  he  was  appointed  cashier  of  the  new  bank,  called 
the  Granite  and  afterwards  the  Granite  State  Bank.  The 
brick  building  was  built  just  across  the  street,  containing 
rooms  for  the  bank  and  the  residence  of  the  cashier. 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  37 

The  next  house  beyond  the  tavern  was  the  residence 
of  Governor  Oilman,  in  that  day  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
colonial  style,  two  stories  high  and  having  a  fine  hall, 
with  two  flights  of  stairs  and  handsome  panelling.  In 
one  of  the  chambers  on  the  panel  over  the  fireplace 
someone  had  painted  a  group  of  horsemen,  which  I 
suppose  represented  the  preliminary  meet  of  huntsmen 
after  the  Enghsh  custom.  It  was  more  curious  perhaps, 
than  artistic;  who  did  it  or  when  it  was  done,  I  cannot 
say. 

Governor  Gilman  removed  from  his  own  house  on 
Governor's  lane  to  this  house,  which  was  the  property 
of  his  third  wife.  I  remember  her  quite  well.  She  had 
the  old  fashioned  way  of  giving  children,  when  they 
came  with  their  mothers  to  see  her,  something  good  to 
eat.  I  suppose  that  custom  fixed  my  recollection  of  her. 
It  was  said  of  one  of  Governor  Gilman's  three  wives 
that  she  was  very  exact  in  her  ways.  She  always  stopped 
her  fires  on  a  certain  day  in  the  spring  and  began  them 
on  a  particular  day  of  the  month  in  the  fall,  regardless 
whether  the  season  was  cold  or  warm.  She  was  inexora- 
ble in  this,  and  very  set. 

After  the  Governor  died  his  widow  Hved  in  the  house 
for  a  short  time,  then  moved  to  Boston,  I  believe.  The 
house  was  rented  for  a  time,  and  afterward  sold  to  Colonel 
James  Burley  and  Stephen  W.  Dearborn.  Mr.  Dear- 
born took  the  half  toward  the  old  tavern.  The  house 
was  added  to  and  changed  to  suit  the  ideas  of  the  pur- 
chasers; it  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  colonial  style  to 
begin  with,  but  the  effect  was  destroyed  in  the  altera- 


38  EXETER  IN  1830 

tions.  The  fine  hall,  however,  remains  the  same,  I  think, 
though  still  farther  changes  have  been  made  by  reason 
of  much  damage  done  by  fire.  I  went  to  a  dame's 
school  in  this  building  when  a  little  boy,  and  my  little 
granddaughter  attended  one  there  in  her  turn.  The 
house  had  a  very  pleasant  garden,  extending  along  the 
street  to  Moulton's  lane,  afterwards  called  Elm  Street > 
from  the  very  handsome  tree  that  stood  in  the  middle 
of  its  entrance  from  Front  Street.  Moulton's  lane 
separated  the  gardens  of  the  brothers,  John  T.  and 
Nathaniel  Oilman.  Charles  Conner  bought  a  piece  of 
this  garden  and  built  his  house  upon  it. 

Across  the  street  was  an  old  house  belonging  to  Deacon 
Samuel  Brooks,  who  died  before  my  day.  He  came,  I 
think,  from  Medford,  Mass.;  he  belonged  to  the  promi- 
nent family  of  that  town.  He  had  a  number  of  children, 
but  none  remained  here;  I  believe  I  have  seen  some  of 
them.  The  house  was  old  and  much  faded  as  I  recollect 
it,  painted  originally  red.  It  was  rented  to  various 
families.  The  one  most  noted  was  that  of  Mrs.  Rogers, 
the  widow  of  Colonel  John  Rogers.  She  was  the  grand- 
daughter of  General  Enoch  Poor,  who  was  prominent 
in  the  Revolutionary  war.  I  remember  his  daughter, 
the  mother  of  Mrs.  Rogers,  very  well.  General  Poor 
lived  in  a  house  on  Water  Street  where  the  News-Letter 
block  is  situated. 

On  the  Center  Street  side  of  the  Brooks  house  was  a 
door  opening  into  a  fair-sized  room,  where  most  of  the 
children  of  the  neighborhood  took  their  first  lessons. 
I  commenced  my  a,  b,  c  there  when  not  over  three  and  a 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  39 

half  years  old,  and  continued  there,  off  and  on,  till  I  was 
seven.  It  was  kept  by  Miss  Mary  Warren,  known 
among  the  children  as  ^^ Polly''  Warren.  She  had  very 
sharp  black  eyes  which  seemed  to  see  everything  that 
was  going  on  among  us.  She  was,  I  suppose,  a  good 
woman,  but  not  at  all  sympathetic  and,  consequently, 
not  an  ideal  teacher  of  little  children.  One  of  her  pun- 
ishments was  to  pin  the  wrongdoer  to  her  apron.  All 
the  children  wore  aprons  in  those  days,  both  boys  and 
girls.  Provision  was  made  against  the  rapid  growth 
of  boys  by  a  couple  of  tucks  in  the  legs  of  their 
trousers. 

In  a  one-story  addition  of  the  Brooks  house,  the  post 
office  was  kept.  Jewett  Hoyt  was  postmaster,  his  two 
daughters  doing  all  the  work.  Finally  the  house  was 
torn  down  and  the  Universalist  meeting-house  built 
on  the  lot.  In  this  house  Mrs.  Hervey  and  her  father 
began  the  catering  business,  which  the  Hervey  family 
carried  on  so  long  in  this  town. 

Across  Center  Street  we  come  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Benj.  Clark  Oilman,  a  man  somewhat  peculiar,  but 
of  more  than  ordinary  talents.  He  was  very  ingenious; 
among  other  things  he  made  clocks,  and  perhaps  some 
of  the  clocks  of  the  tall  kind  are  still  to  be  found  with 
his  name  on  the  face.  He  died  when  I  was  very  young, 
leaving,  as  I  recall,  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Two 
of  his  sons,  William  and  Arthur,  went  into  business  in 
Norwich,  Connecticut,  and  were  fine  men.  William  was 
a  very  religious  man.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  Sunday 
schools,  and  whenever  he  came  to  Exeter  always  visited 


40  EXETER  IN  1830 

our  Sunday  School  and  made  remarks  which  were  eager- 
ly listened  to,  as  he  had  an  unusual  power  of  interesting 
children.  During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  Uved  in  New 
York  city  and  was  devoted  to  every  form  of  good  work. 
He  had  several  children,  one  of  whom  was  Daniel  Coit 
Oilman,  former  president  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
Charles,  the  third  son  of  Benj .  Clark  Oilman,  began  busi- 
ness as  an  apothecary  in  Portland,  but  for  some  reason 
came  home  and  was  taken  care  of  bj^  his  sisters.  He  died 
here  in  the  old  house.  His  principal  employment  in 
Exeter  was  proof  reading.  He  was  by  nature  a  bright 
man,  and  very  pleasant  and  kindly. 

The  eldest  daughter  of  Benj.  Clark  Oilman  married 
Mr.  Odiorne,  who  was  engaged  in  the  iron  business 
in  Exeter,  but  later  moved  to  Norwich.  He  died  there, 
leaving  her  with  three  young  children,  two  girls  and  a 
boy.  She  afterwards  returned  to  her  native  town  to 
hve.  The  house  had  been  originally  a  two-story  building, 
with  a  room  on  each  side  of  a  central  door  opening  on 
Front  Street.  Mrs.  Odiorne  lengthened  the  front  to 
Center  Street,  and  added  a  new  entrance.  She  was  a 
very  bright  woman,  very  kind  and  hospitable  to  other 
children,  and  doing  her  utmost  to  make  her  home  pleas- 
ant to  her  own.  Many  hours  have  I  spent  in  play  in 
that  house.  She  had  two  daughters  and  one  son.  The 
younger  daughter,  a  beautiful  girl,  became  engaged  to 
Mr.  Samuel  T.  Hildreth,  a  handsome,  talented  young 
man,  ^iio  died  soon  after  graduating  with  distinction 
at  Harvard.  The  young  lady  herself  died  of  consumption 
about  the  same  time.    The  oldest  daughter,  ]\Irs.  Chelhs, 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  41 

lived  to  advanced  age.  The  son  was  of  more  than  com- 
mon abihty,  but  erratic. 

A  sister  of  Mrs.  Odiorne,  Serena  by  name,  well  known 
to  our  present  older  people,  for  many  years  kept  a 
thread  and  needle  store  in  a  little  seven  by  nine  building 
that  stood  between  her  father's  house  and  the  one  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Wetherell.  It  was  a  curious  little  room, 
that  three  customers  would  about  fill,  but  it  was  a  won- 
derful store.  Things  could  be  found  there  that  could 
not  be  got  elsewhere,  so  it  was  said.  As  I  recollect  the 
store,  it  contained  thread  and  needles,  ribbons,  fine 
laces  and  handkerchiefs,  and  everything  of  the  nicest 
kind.  The  wonder  was  that  so  much  could  be  kept  in 
so  small  a  place.  It  was  patronized  by  ladies  exclusively; 
and  Miss  Serena,  as  she  was  called,  did  a  profitable 
business,  and  retired  from  her  labors  respected,  and  with 
a  good  competency. 

In  the  next  house,  when  I  was  very  young,  lived  the 
Eastham  family.  I  can  just  remember  their  being  there. 
Later  Colonel  Walker  occupied  it.  He  was  for  a  long 
time  the  register  of  deeds.  His  daughters,  Martha 
and  Temperance,  helped  him,  and  their  beautiful  chkog- 
raphy  can  be  seen  in  the  registry  books  of  the  years  of 
the  twenties  and  before.  Colonel  Walker  came  from 
Portsmouth  and  hved  here  until  he  gave  up  the  office, 
when  he  moved  to  Derry  to  live  with  a  married  daughter. 
Martha  married  Mr.  C.  C.  P.  Gale,  who  at  one  time 
conducted  a  private  school  here  which  I  attended. 
Miss  Temperance  for  many  years  kept  a  school  for 
little  children. 


42  EXETER  IN  1830 

Crossing  the  street  we  come  to  a  gate  closing  a  narrow 
lane,  which  led  to  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Moulton. 
This  house  was  moved  to  Court  Street,  and  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  Dr.  N.  E.  Soule.  It  formerly  stood  where 
the  Unitarian  meeting-house  now  is,  and  farther  along 
the  lane  was  a  large  barn.  Mr.  Moulton  was  a  farmer, 
and  dealt  largely  in  cattle.  It  was  the  custom  in  those 
days  to  collect  herds  of  cattle  farther  north,  and  drive 
them  by  way  of  Exeter  to  Brighton,  where  they  were 
sold,  and  the  drovers  sold  and  traded  as  they  went 
through  the  different  towns.  They-  used  to  put  up 
with  Mr.  Moulton.  His  death  was  caused  by  small 
pox,  which  it  was  supposed  he  took  from  some  man 
whom  he  kept  over  night.  I  remember  the  time  very 
well.  My  father  attended  him.  After  he  died,  my 
father  was  taken  quite  sick,  and  it  was  noised  about 
town  that  he  had  taken  the  disease.  It  was  not  so; 
he  had  some  sort  of  feverish  attack,  resulting  from  the 
exposure  he  underwent  in  this  case.  People  were  in 
such  terror  of  the  disease  that  he  even  had  to  assist  in 
the  burying  of  the  body.  In  those  days  it  was  impossible 
to  get  nurses  or  assistants  in  contagious  cases,  and 
much  outside  his  regular  duties  was  thrown  upon  the 
doctor.  My  father  attended  all  the  cases  of  small  pox 
in  this  town  and  the  country  around.  He  was  vaccinated 
only  once,  with  matter  which  had  been  obtained  from 
Dr.  Jenner  and  brought  from  England  by  a  physician 
of  Boston. 

Mr.  Moulton  had  a  number  of  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  sons  are  all  dead.     The  youngest,  a  namesake  of 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  43 

my  father's,  resided  here  all  his  life;  an  honest,  upright 
man,  much  trusted  and  respected  by  the  commu- 
nity. 

Across  the  street  was  the  house  of  Deacon  Sherburne 
Blake,  since  replaced  by  the  Baptist  church.  It  was  a 
long,  two-storied  house,  plain  in  appearance,  with  two 
front  doors,  and  a  long  drawn  out  ell  on  Spring  Street. 
A  part  of  it  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Garfield  Streets.  Of  the  origin  of  the  house  I  am  ignorant, 
its  occupants  I  remember  well.  The  deacon  came  here 
from  Raymond,  having  amassed  a  competence  there  by 
keeping  a  country  store.  He  left  the  business  in  the 
hands  of  his  two  sons,  who  became  leading  men  of  the 
town.  They  entered  largely  into  the  manufactiu'e  of 
palm  leaf  hats,  which  were  worn  almost  exclusively 
during  the  hot  months,  being  light  and  cool  as  well  as 
cheap.  The  Blakes  bought  the  leaf,  which  was  put 
out  among  the  famiUes  of  that  vicinity  to  be  braided, 
the  women  earning  tidy  little  sums  in  this  industry. 

I  remember  the  old  deacon  well  in  his  cinnamon  col- 
ored wig.  He  was  a  typical  deacon  of  the  old  time, 
positive  in  his  convictions,  an  observer  of  all  the  ordi- 
nances, and  a  staunch  defender  of  his  creed,  not  popular 
with  the  young,  not  given  to  hilarity,  but  withal  a  kind 
neighbor.  It  was  said  that  in  his  last  sickness,  for  the 
last  fortnight  of  his  Hfe  he  took  nothing  but  water. 
Deacon  Blake  had  five  daughters,  besides  the  sons 
mentioned  above  —  Eleanor,  Olive,  Dorothy,  Shuah, 
and  Abby,  all  fine  women.  All  married,  except  Miss 
Eleanor,  an  estimable  woman,  who  spent  her  life  in  the 


44  EXETER  IN  1830 

old  house.  She  always  had  boarders,  principally  Acad- 
emy students. 

Deacon  Blake  built  a  two-story  office  building  between 
his  house  and  the  old  county  building;  General  Marston 
occupied  the  upper  rooms  and  Judge  French  the  lower. 

Nearly  opposite  was,  as  described  on  the  old  map  of 
Exeter,  the  ^'seat"  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Gilman,  my 
grandfather,  my  mother  having  been  born  in  this  house 
in  1789.  He  had  two  wives  and  eleven  children,  Mrs. 
Long  surviving  the  others  by  many  years  and  reaching 
the  age  of  ninety-six.  Colonel  Gilman  was  a  fine  speci- 
men of  a  man,  over  six  feet,  well  developed,  but  not  fat, 
dignified  in  appearance,  with  manners  of  the  old  school. 
He  had  a  good  memory,  and  took  pleasure  in  telling 
his  grandchildren  stories  of  what  happened  long  ago. 
He  remembered  much  about  the  Revolutionary  war, 
though  he  was  not  engaged  in  it.  Being  a  little  young 
for  that,  he  helped  his  father  in  the  Treasury  office. 
My  grandfather  wore  a  queue  all  his  life,*  and  I  recollect 
two  other  men  in  town  who  adhered  to  that  fashion, 
namely  Major  Pearson,  who  lived  at  the  top  of  Town 
Hill,  and  a  Mr.  Rowe,  who  lived  on  the  Hampton  road 
near  Ass  Brook.    I  knew  no  one  in  this  town  in  my  time 

*Dr.  Perry's  mother  used  to  relate  that  when  Governor  Gilman, 
who  was  the  eldest  son,  was  a  boy  of  fom*,  his  head  was  shaved  and 
he  wore  a  wig.  His  brothers,  the  honorable  Nicholas  and  Nathaniel, 
wore  as  boys  their  own  hair  with  powder.  The  claim  of  primogeni- 
ture was  at  that  time  recognized  to  the  extent  of  giving  the  oldest  son 
a  double  portion  of  the  inherited  property.  When  Dr.  WilUam  Perry 
was  a  young  man  his  hair  was  too  thin  to  furnish  a  queue,  but  what 
hair  he  had  was  regularly  tied  with  a  ribbon. 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  45 

who  wore  small  clothes,  though  I  think  I  have  seen 
them  worn  by  someone  from  out  of  town.  My  grand- 
father always  wore  what  is  called  a  swallow-tailed  coat, 
and  ruffled  shirt  front.  The  material  of  the  coat  was 
broadcloth.  A  cheaper  cloth,  called  satinet,  of  wool  and 
cotton,  was  much  used. 

Colonel  Oilman  kept  open  house,  entertained  a  great 
deal,  and  was  liberal  and  kind  to  the  poor.  His  second 
wife,  Dorothea  Folsom,  was  short  but  good  looking, 
fond  of  society  and  hospitable.  I  think  she  usually 
wore  a  turban. 

The  children  and  grandchildren  all  used  to  be  invited 
to  the  house  for  Thanksgiving,  and  there  was  a  very 
large  tableful,  between  twenty  and  thirty.  We  children 
enjoyed  the  day  very  much.  After  the  dinner  we  played 
old-fashioned  games.  In  those  days  the  preparation 
for  Thanksgiving  day  was  quite  a  task  for  the  women 
of  the  house,  for  they  had  not  only  to  provide  for  their 
own  family,  but  also  for  many  retainers,  who  generally 
came  in  a  day  or  two  before  for  their  portion.  It  was 
very  willingly  given,  for  many  of  the  old  Enghsh  cus- 
toms in  this  regard  remained. 

The  next  house  to  Colonel  Gilman's  was  built  and 
occupied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  Hurd.  Among  the  stories 
relating  to  peculiarities  of  the  old  Exeter  people  was  one 
to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Benj.  Clark  Gihnan  was  so  much 
annoyed  because  Mr.  Hiu"d  put  the  foundation  of  his  house 
so  high  above  ground,  that  he  would  not  speak  to  him. 

Mr.  Hurd  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts, 
the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Boston,  and  had 


46  EXETER  IN  1830 

educational  advantages  abroad  as  well  as  in  this  country. 
He  was  called  by  the  Second  Parish  as  an  Unitarian,  but 
before  he  was  settled  he  changed  his  views.  The  parish, 
though  controlled  by  that  denomination,  agreed  to 
settle  him,  with  the  condition  that  he  should  exchange 
with  the  neighboring  Unitarian  clergynaen.  Dr.  Hurd 
was  a  very  small  man;  he  could  not  have  weighed 
much  over  an  hundred  pounds.  He  was  quiet  and  re- 
served, unapproachable  to  us  young  people.  He  seemed 
to  throw  a  cold  spell  over  the  room  when  he  came  in. 
I  think  he  was  of  a  retiring  disposition,  but  can  speak 
of  his  demeanor  only  from  the  standpoint  of  a  boy. 
He  was  a  thoroughly  cultivated  gentleman,  finely  edu- 
cated, a  pohshed  writer,  and  was  esteemed  and  respected 
by  the  community,  though  he  did  not  mix  freely  with  it. 
I  think  he  held  the  pastorate  of  that  society  until  he 
died,  though  in  the  last  years  he  had  a  colleague.  He 
married  in  this  town  Mrs.  Emery,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Folsom.  Their  only  son,  Francis  F.,  was  a  fine  man; 
he  studied  medicine,  but  never  practised,  having  an 
ample  fortune  from  his  father.  He  died  unmarried, 
and  left  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the  Philhps  Exeter 
Academy. 

Mrs.  Hurd  lived  a  number  of  years  after  her  husband. 
A  niece.  Miss  Ehzabeth  Stevens,  was  brought  up  by 
her,  a  handsome,  bright  girl,  and  very  popular.  She 
married  Professor  Norton,  of  Yale  College,  and  died 
only  a  few  years  ago. 

We  now  come  to  the  house  owned  by  the  Academy, 
in  which  Dr.  Abbot  Hved.    Dr.  Abbot  was  married  twice, 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  47 

and  had  three  children.  The  son  by  the  first  marriage 
became  a  minister.  He  was  considered  very  promising, 
but  died  quite  young.  The  second  son  went  to  Bangor 
into  some  business,  but  I  beheve  he  was  never  very 
successful.  The  daughter  married  Dr.  Gorham,  of  this 
town.  The  second  Mrs.  Abbot  was  a  Perkins  of  Boston, 
whose  brothers  became  very  prominent  and  rich  mer- 
chants. Mrs.  Abbot  was  very  proud  and  aristocratic  in 
her  feehngs,  though  among  congenial  friends  she  was 
much  thought  of.  Dr.  Abbot  had  not  a  handsome 
face,  but  he  was  of  very  dignified  presence,  with  all  the 
old  school  manners  and  politeness.  He  took  off  his  hat 
to  his  youngest  scholars  when  he  met  them.  Dr.  Abbot 
was  held  in  high  esteem  and  reverence  by  his  pupils; 
the  boys  stopped  their  play  when  he  passed  by  them, 
taking  off  their  hats.  He  was  also  much  venerated  by 
the  alumni  of  the  institution.  He  resigned  the  year  that 
I  left  for  college,  so  that  I  knew  no  other  principal  and 
my  recommendation  to  college  was  signed  by  him. 

The  next  house  was  that  of  Mr.  John  Houston,  a 
Scotchman  by  birth,  who  had  formerly  lived  in  New- 
foundland. Passing  through  Exeter,  he  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  town  that  he  came  and  bought  this 
house.  He  was  our  richest  citizen,  leaving  at  his  death, 
it  was  said,  over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  a  very 
large  sum  for  those  days.  He  had  a  wife  and  three  daugh- 
ters, one  of  whom  married  Mr.  Alfred  Haven,  of  Ports- 
mouth. Mr.  Houston  hved  in  more  style  than  anyone 
here,  having  his  coach  and  pair.  I  remember  him  well, 
a  short,  compactly  built  man,  pleasant  and  sociable, 


48  EXETER  IN  1830 

who  took  his  snuff  out  of  a  handsome  silver  snuff  box, 
kept  a  big,  white  dog  tied  in  his  yard,  and  in  manner 
of  hfe  was  thoroughly  EngHsh.  After  his  death  the 
house  was  sold  and  his  daughters  left  town.  I  have  an 
impression  that  a  family  by  the  name  of  Coffin  had 
lived  here  before  Mr.  Houston,  but  that  was  farther 
back  than  I  can  remember. 

In  the  next  house  dwelt  Jotham  Lawrence,  Esq.,  a 
lawyer  of  abihty,  a  native  of  Epping;  he  married  Miss 
Conner,  and  built  this  house.  He  had  a  large  family, 
eight  children  I  think.  Alexander,  the  second  son, 
went  to  college,  studied  law,  and  opened  an  office  in 
Washington.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  talents,  and  acquired 
reputation  and  a  large  business  there.  The  daughters, 
with  their  mother,  by  their  pleasant  manners  and  love 
of  entertaining  made  a  very  social  house,  and  it  was 
much  resorted  to  by  the  young  people  of  the  town. 
For  some  reason  Mr.  Lawrence  failed  to  reach  in  his 
profession  the  place  which  he  was  entitled  to,  but  in 
later  days  his  judgment  was  much  prized  by  the  younger 
men.    None  of  his  children  is  now  living. 

We  come  now  to  the  house  of  the  Misses  Eliza  and 
Lucy  Bell.  This  house  was  built  by  a  Captain  EUery, 
on  land  in  the  neighborhood  where  the  Giddings  and 
Wadleighs  hved  at  a  later  time.  Many  a  seafaring  man, 
when  tired  of  the  sea,  has  purchased  a  farm,  but  in  time 
has  found  that  farm  life  was  not  all  he  pictured  it.  So 
it  was  with  Captain  EUery;  after  some  time  trying  it, 
he  gave  it  up,  and  moved  his  house  into  town,  to  its 
present  place.    The  ell  was  added  afterwards. 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  Ad 

The  first  person  I  can  recall  as  living  there  was  Colonel 
Rogers,  and  I  was  very  young  when  he  hved  there. 
Colonel  Rogers  was  a  fine  looking  man,  and  one  of  the 
most  active  and  influential  citizens.  He  was  interested 
in  many  business  enterprises,  was  cashier  of  the  old 
Exeter  bank,  and  chairman  of  the  board  of  selectmen 
for  fifteen  years.  He  left  this  house  for  a  farm  on  the 
Hampton  road,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Scott,  where  I  was  a 
frequent  visitor.  Colonel  Rogers  died  in  1837,  leaving 
a  large  family.  His  daughter  Frances  became  the  wife 
of  Captain  Chadwick.  Only  one  of  his  children  is  now 
living,  Mr.  Jacob  R^ogers,  a  prominent  and  wealthy 
citizen  of  Lowell,  Massachusetts. 

Captain  John  Sleeper  lived  in  this  house  very  early 
in  the  thirties.  He  had  been  a  sea  captain,  but  came 
here  and  started  the  News-Letter.  Later  he  moved  to 
Lowell  and  started  a  paper  there,  and  finally  went  to 
Boston.  There  he  estabhshed  the  Boston  Journal, 
which  became  a  very  popular  paper,  and  a  very  rehable 
one  it  was  too.  After  many  years  he  gave  up  his  con- 
nection with  the  Journal,  and  started  a  family  paper, 
but  it  was  not  a  success.  I  remember  him  as  a  pleasant, 
cordial  man,  very  quick  and  energetic  in  manner.  He 
wrote  interesting  stories  of  sea  life,  which  were  collected 
and  published  in  book  form.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Cobbs.    They  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  house  in  general  appearance  is  the  same  now  as 
it  was  in  my  boyhood.  It  was  bought,  after  Captain 
Sleeper  left  it,  by  Mr.  John  Swett,  who  lived  in  it  for  a 
few  years.    Mr.  Swett  was  agent  for  the  powder  mills 


50  EXETER  IN  1830 

established  near  Perkins  Hill,  then  called  Gordon^s  HilL 
The  Swett  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  two  daughters, 
and  a  very  pleasant  family  it  was.  They  left  Exeter 
and  afterwards  lived  in  Philadelphia. 

On  the  next  lot  was  an  old  two-storied  house,  originally 
painted  red,  but  much  faded.  It  was  occupied  by  Mr. 
Richard  Lovering,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  shoe 
business  in  New  York,  lived  here  for  a  time  and  after^ 
wards  returned  there.  He  had  three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter. Of  Richard,  the  oldest,  I  know  nothing.  Albert 
for  some  years  conducted  a  bookstore  in  Boston  and 
after  in  New  York.  Arthur,  the  youngest,  went  to 
Mobile,  and  died  a  short  time  ago.  This  house  was  torn 
down  and  the  present  one  built,  by  whom  I  have  for- 
gotten. 

Across  the  street  from  this  house  were  two  large  elm 
trees,  one  of  which  is  now  standing.  Under  those  trees 
was  the  dwelling  place  of  Jeremiah  Dow,  an  active  busi- 
ness man,  who  carried  on  a  tannery  on  Tan  Lane,  now 
called  Academy  Street.  He  afterwards  sold  to  Jeremiah 
Robinson  both  the  tannery  and  the  house  and  moved 
into  the  Judge  Peabody  house  on  Water  Street.  Mr. 
Dow  had  three  daughters,  and  I  think  two  sons.  The 
daughters  I  knew  well,  but  have  no  recollection  of  the 
sons.  There  was  a  story  that  one  of  the  sons  cut  off  a 
toe,  and  the  doctor  sewed  it  on  upside  down.  The 
daughters  were  fine,  estimable  women.  The  oldest,  Mrs. 
Ednah  Dow  Cheney,  spent  all  her  married  life  in  Boston; 
the  others  married,  and  lived  for  some  time  here.  The 
house  on  Front  Street  was  a  very  comfortable  one,  of 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  51 

the  old  style.  It  is  standing,  near  the  original  spot, 
and  is  occupied  by  Mrs.  Perkins  and  Mr.  Read. 

We  will  cross  the  street  again  to  the  three-storied 
house  now  owned  by  Mr.  Belknap.  This  house  was 
built  by  Benjamin  Lovering,  a  brother  of  Richard. 
He  had  a  large  family,  some  seven  children,  mostly 
daughters.  The  youngest  son,  Charles,  I  remember. 
Mr.  Lovering  carried  on  the  shoe  business  in  a  building 
which  now  forms  the  ell  of  the  next  house.  He  after- 
wards moved  to  Portsmouth,  selling  his  house  to  a  Mr. 
Elliot.  About  that  time  Whitfield^s  Lane  was  made 
into  a  street  and  the  name  of  Elliot  was  given  to  it. 
Mr.  Lovering  has  one  daughter  here  now,  Uving  in  the 
old  Lovering  house,  farther  up  the  street,  where  her 
grandfather  lived.  She  is  the  only  one  of  the  family 
now  living,  I  believe.  Charles  Lovering  came  back 
from  New  York,  and  died  here. 

About  the  next  house  I  am  somewhat  in  doubt.  My 
impression  is  that  there  was  no  house  there  at  the  early 
date  of  which  I  am  writing,  but  that  what  is  now  the 
ell  then  sat  farther  back,  was  used  as  a  shoe  shop,  and 
was  later  moved  forward  and  added  to.  The  first  person 
to  occupy  it  as  a  residence  was  Retire  Parker,  who  came 
here  from  Bradford,  Massachusetts,  and  entered  into 
partnership  with  Jeremiah  Robinson  in  the  tanning 
industry.  Mr.  Parker  was  a  man  of  business  capacity, 
upright  and  possessing  energy  and  good  judgment. 
He  prospered  in  business  and  was  more  or  less  concerned 
in  town  affairs.  He  died  here,  leaving  two  sons,  one 
now  dead,  the  other  living  in  Boston;  and  a  daughter, 
married  and  living  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts. 


52  EXETER  IN  1830 

The  next  house  was  an  old  and  shabby  one,  rented, 
at  my  earhest  recollection,  to  two  families.  One  was 
that  of  Mr.  Hoyt,  who  was,  I  think,  a  brother  or  related 
to  Jewett  Hoyt,  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken.  Mr. 
Hoyt  had  sons  whom  I  used  to  meet  when  playing  in 
that  neighborhood.  I  never  knew  what  became  of 
them,  neither  do  I  know  what  Mr.  Hoyt's  occupation 
was.  It  was  said  of  him  that  he  could  walk  to  Boston 
in  a  day;  Boston  was  then  forty-eight  miles  by  road 
from  Exeter.  The  other  family  in  the  house  was  that 
of  Winthrop  Tilton.  The  house  was  sold  to  the  Hon. 
Amos  Tuck,  on  his  settling  here,  and  all  his  children, 
with  perhaps  the  exception  of  the  eldest,  were  born 
here.  He  put  it  into  good  repair  and  lived  there  until 
he  built  his  new  house  farther  up  the  street.  It  was 
afterwards  bought  by  Samuel  Tilton,  of  Boston,  son  of 
Winthrop  Tilton;  and  his  parents,  with  his  maiden 
sister,  lived  there  until  they  all  died,  tenderly  and  com- 
fortably cared  for  by  a  good  son. 

The  old  house  owned  by  Mrs.  Wentworth  was  in  my 
boyhood  the  home  of  her  grandfather,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Lovering,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a 
very  old  man  as  I  remember  him,  and  was  always  called 
'^ Daddy"  by  the  boys.  He  was  a  short  man,  but  had 
been  famous  as  a  wrestler,  a  champion  of  this  sport  in 
the  army.  It  was  told  that  a  Vermont  giant  came  to 
Exeter  on  purpose  to  throw  him;  it  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  the  giant  himself  was  laid  in  the  dust.  Mr. 
Lovering  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  daugh- 
ter married  a  Mr.  Lafferty,  and  built  the  next  house, 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  53 

now  owned  by  Mr.  Holmes;  but  this  house  was  not 
built  until  after  the  time  of  which  I  write.  Mr.  Lafferty 
was  a  shoemaker  who  worked  for  the  Loverings  and 
died  leaving  his  wife  in  very  comfortable  circum- 
stances. 

The  brick  house  was  built  by  Mr.  John  Williams,  a 
bright,  active  man,  who,  with  his  brother  Benjamin, 
carried  on  a  big  Printery  on  Spring  Street  in  a  building 
now  owned  by  Patrick  Connors.  Benjamin  Williams 
built  a  brick  house  similar  to  his  brother^ s,  back  of  the 
Printery,  now  the  residence  of  Mr.  Anderson.  They 
did  a  large  business  in  printing  books,  which  were  sent 
to  New  York  and  sold  in  what  were  called  the  trades 
sales.  It  was  all  done  by  auction.  I  think  they  printed 
for  the  market  as  many  books  as  any  house  in  New 
England.  John  Williams  died,  Benjamin  fell  into  bad 
habits,  and  the  business  came  to  an  end,  whether  through 
failure  or  not  I  cannot  say.  It  had  been  one  of  the 
thriving  industries  of  the  town.  Some  of  the  books 
published  by  the  Williams  brothers  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  Town  Library. 

Both  brothers  had  children;  Benjamin  had  one  son 
who  lived  in  New  York,  of  whom  it  was  said  that  his 
was  the  heaviest  weight  of  any  man  in  the  city.  If  I 
remember  right,  he  weighed  over  four  hundred  pounds. 
I  think  no  one  of  the  two  families  is  Hving.  Mr.  John 
Williams  was  an  ardent  politician,  and  I  can  distinctly 
remember  him  discussing  party  principles  with  some 
man  of  the  other  side,  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  old  Comrt 
house  on  Town  Meeting  Day.    It  was  the  custom  on 


54  EXETER  IN  1830 

that  day  to  have  disputes  of  that  sort,  but  the  meeting 
upstairs  was  very  orderly. 

Across  the  street  from  the  Tilton  house,  in  an  old  two 
storied  house  painted  white  with  green  blinds,  dwelt 
Mrs.  Haliburton.  Her  husband  was  a  sea  captain  of 
Portsmouth.  I  do  not  remember  his  living  here,  and  I 
have  the  impression  that  he  was  lost  at  sea.  It  was  said 
that  the  singular  looking  tree  which  stands  in  the  yard 
in  front  of  Mr.  Charles  Merrill's  house  was  brought  by 
the  captain  from  some  foreign  land,  and  set  out  there. 
Mrs.  Haliburton  was  a  kind  hearted  woman,  beloved 
by  the  children  of  the  neighborhood,  some  of  whom 
called  her  grandma.  She  maintained  herself  by  keeping 
Academy  students.  She  was  dignified  and  ruled  her 
house  well,  and  was  respected  by  the  boys.  I  remember 
her,  but  was  not  so  well  acquainted  with  her  as  the  boys 
living  in  her  neighborhood.  The  house  sat  directly  on 
the  ground,  with  one  very  low  step  at  its  entrance.  It 
was  moved  to  Academy  Street  and  is  there  now. 

The  next  house  was  of  two  stories,  painted  white, 
with  a  hall  running  through  it.  One  of  its  fireplaces  was 
surrounded  by  Dutch  tiles,  which  were  very  pleasing 
to  me,  and  I  never  tired  of  looking  at  them.  I  do  not 
know  the  earlier  occupants  of  this  house.  At  this  time 
it  was  owned,  I  think,  by  Mr.  Houston,  and  occupied 
by  Dr.  G.  L.  Soule  and  his  interesting  family,  which 
consisted  of  Mrs.  Soule,  three  boys,  one  little  daughter, 
and  Mrs.  Soule's  sister,  good  old  '^  Aunt  Mary"  to  us  all. 
I  have  spent  many  happy  hours  in  this  house,  where  I  was 
always  most  kindly  welcomed,  from  as  far  back  as  my  rec- 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  55 

lections  carry  me.  How  much  of  their  ^^  hard  gingerbread^' 
I  have  eaten!  And  the  boys  enjoyed  the  same  treat  when 
they  came  to  our  house.  The  kind  mothers  of  those  days 
always  had  some ''goody"  for  the  children.  There  was 
never  a  better  mother  to  her  children  than  Mrs.  Soule 
was  to  hers,  and  her  good  training  was  exemplified  in 
them.  Charles,  the  eldest,  was  a  fortnight  older  than  my- 
self, and  we  were  very  intimate.  His  nickname  was 
Chick,  for  nicknames  were  common  in  those  days.  He 
became  a  lawyer,  and  settled  in  New  York,  where  he 
died.  Dr.  Nicholas  Emery  was  the  second,  a  gentleman 
so  well  known  and  so  highly  respected  in  Exeter  at  the 
present  day  that  I  need  not  comment  upon  him.  It  was 
a  great  joy  to  me  when  he  returned  to  make  his  home 
among  us.  The  youngest,  Augustus,  who  became  a  law- 
yer and  settled  in  Springfield,  was  made  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts;  he  died  a  number  of 
years  ago.    The  daughter,  Mary,  died  in  childhood. 

Dr.  Soule  was  very  dignified  in  appearance,  with  old- 
school  manners.  He  was  a  pleasant  conversationalist, 
full  of  anecdotes  which  he  delighted  in  telling,  and  told 
remarkably  well.  Mrs.  Soule  was  a  very  pleasing  and 
attractive  lady,  beloved  by  old  and  young,  dignified  and 
correct  in  manner,  but  not  cold,  of  very  bright  and  pleas- 
ing countenance.  In  fine,  she  was  a  true  lady  both  in 
character  and  demeanor. 

Before  living  in  the  house  mentioned  above.  Dr.  Soule 
resided  in  the  house  which  stands  at  the  intersection  of 
Front  and  Linden  Streets,  known  to  many  as  the  Sam 
Tilton  house.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Abbot,  Dr.  and  Mrs. 


56  EXETER  IN  1830 

Soule  occupied  the  house  provided  for  the  principal  of 
the  Academy,  in  which  they  rounded  out  a  good  old  age. 
(The  Front  Street  house  was  afterwards  removed,  as 
was  also  the  house  built,  somewhat  later  than  the  time 
of  which  I  speak,  by  Major  Cobbs.  The  latter  house 
stands  now  on  Lincoln  Street,  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Albert  N.  Dow). 

In  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Pennell  lived  Mrs. 
Rindge,  the  widow  of  a  sea  captain  lost  at  sea.  After  his 
death  she  came  from  Portsmouth  to  Exeter  to  earn  her 
living  by  keeping  boarders.  Her  house  was  a  popular 
one  with  Academy  students.  She  liked  good  living  her- 
self, and  so  did  the  boys.  Mrs.  Rindge  was  a  large  fleshy 
woman  who  had  a  way  of  expressing  herself  which  was 
perhaps  more  true  than  polite  or  refined,  but  always 
amusing  to  the  hearer.  Her  brother,  an  old  sea  captain, 
with  his  wife  and  son,  lived  with  her. 

The  next  house  was  Dr.  David  W.  Gorham's,  and  was 
built  by  Dr.  Abbot  for  his  only  daughter,  who  married 
Dr.  Gorham.  Some  one  asked  Dr.  Abbot  why  he  built 
so  much  out  of  the  way  (the  situation  was  not  then  a 
central  one  for  a  physician)  and  he  replied  that  it  would 
make  no  difference,  where  merit  was  concerned.  Dr. 
Gorham  was  a  practising  physician  for  a  long  time  in 
Exeter,  had  quite  an  extensive  practice,  and  was  held 
in  much  regard  by  his  patients.  He  was  a  gentleman  of 
pleasant  manners  and  a  happy  disposition.  Mrs.  Gorham 
was  quiet  and  reserved,  but  to  her  intimates  very  bright 
and  entertaining.  There  were  three  children,  two  daugh- 
ters and  a  son.     One  daughter  died  young;  the  other, 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  57 

Mrs.  Sawyer,  is  still  living.  The  son  used  to  play  with 
our  set  of  boys.  He  grew  up  to  fine  character  as  a  man, 
though  much  hampered  by  ill  health —  his  plan  of  life 
of  necessity  completely  changed. 

Across  the  street  from  Dr.  Gorham's  was  the  house 
owned  and  occupied  by  Mr.  John  Lovering,  a  brother  of 
the  Benjamin  and  Richard  before  spoken  of.  This  house 
was  moved  to  Pine  Street,  and  became  the  residence  of 
Messrs.  Brown  and  Warren.  The  house  now  on  the  lot 
was  built  by  Alva  Wood,  Esq. 

Mr.  Lovering  married  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Daniel 
Rogers,  the  pastor  of  the  Second  Parish,  and  had  a 
number  of  children.  I  remember  foiu*  boys,  and  there 
were  some  daughters.  One  son,  named  Nathaniel,  was 
always  spoken  of  by  the  nickname  '^ Polly,''  owing  to 
the  femininity  of  his  character.  He  went  through  the 
Academy  and  became  a  minister  of  some  denomination, 
and  died  not  long  since.  He  came  to  see  me  a  short  time 
before  his  death.  Mr.  Lovering  died  here,  but  the  sons 
removed  to  Lynn  and  engaged  in  the  shoe  business  there. 
The  oldest  son  was  the  father  of  John  W.  Lovering,  who 
was  either  mayor  or  postmaster  of  Lynn  and  afterwards 
a  member  of  Congress. 

In  one  part  of  the  house  lived  Miss  Nancy  and  Miss 
Patty  Rogers,  daughters  of  the  Rev.  Daniel.  They  were 
considered  very  saintly  and  much  revered  for  their  good- 
ness. I  can  remember  going  with  my  mother  to  call  on 
Miss  Patty,  a  kind  old  lady  of  whom  my  mother  was  very 
fond.     The  Rogers  family  was  well  connected  in  Boston. 

Mr  Lovering  carried  on  the  making  of  shoes  in  an  at- 


58  EXETER  IN  1830 

tached  building  in  the  rear  of  his  house.  No  machinery 
was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  in  that  day. 

Across  the  street  a  Uttle  farther  up  was  the  house  of 
Dennett  Oilman.  It  was  built  of  brick  in  the  old  style, 
and  must  have  been  very  fine  in  its  day.  I  do  not  know 
when  it  was  built  nor  who  built  it,  neither  do  I  know 
much  about  Dennett  Oilman,  but  I  remember  him  as  a 
man  who  had  seen  better  times.  He  had  one  daughter, 
a  pleasing  woman,  who  married  Mr.  Edmund  Elliot, 
and  died  in  middle  age.  The  brick  house  was  torn  down 
and  three  houses  were  built  on  the  lot,  by  Captain 
Charles  Oill  (the  Seminary  house),  Hon.  Amos  Tuck, 
and  Judge  Stickney. 

After  this  there  was  no  house  on  Front  Street  until 
you  reached  the  home  of  Doctor  (so  called)  William 
Flood.  It  is  still  standing,  a  story-and-a-half  house 
with  a  peaked  roof,  above  the  entrance  of  Union  Street. 
The  Doctor  was  called  in  veterinary  cases,  and  also  did 
almost  all  of  the  butchering  of  hogs  in  the  village.  In 
that  day  almost  every  family  kept  a  pig,  and  made  great 
use  of  the  product.  Every  well-to-do  family  kept  a  pork 
barrel,  which  was  packed  full  at  pig-killing  time,  and  the 
spareribs  were  put  up  in  barrels  filled  with  snow  to  be 
eaten  by  the  family,  for  fresh  pork  was  not  debarred  in 
those  days.  FamiHes  exchanged  with  one  another  their 
roasts.  One  killing  earlier  would  let  his  neighbor  have 
a  portion  to  be  repaid  from  the  neighbor's  pig  when  that 
was  killed.  Many  sausages  were  made,  and  a  very  ac- 
ceptable present  it  was  when  a  plateful  came  in  from  a 
friend  or  neighbor;  they  were  sure  to  be  good. 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  59 

The  Doctor's  veterinary  practice  was  not  from  books, 
and  I  cannot  say  how  much  experience  had  benefited 
him;  but  some  one  had  to  be  called  on  in  emergencies, 
and  he  was  willing  and  perfectly  confident  to  assume 
the  position.  I  am  afraid  the  poor  animal,  if  it  had  its 
choice,  would  have  begged  to  be  left  to  the  care  that 
nature  could  give.  The  Doctor  meant  well,  and  was 
sure  he  knew.  He  kept  all  sorts  of  herbs,  and  different 
kinds  of  animal  oils,  which  were  much  more  used  in 
those  days  than  at  present.  I  can  see  him  now,  a  bustling 
little  man  coming  down  the  street  with  his  wheelbarrow, 
a  half  hogshead  upon  it,  and  his  rope  and  knife —  a  sad 
sight  to  poor  piggy.  In  fine.  Doctor  Flood  was  one  of  the 
characters  of  the  town.  He  had  two  sons  and  three 
daughters,  and  I  think  one  daughter  is  living. 

There  was  no  other  house  on  this  side  of  the  street 
until  we  come  to  the  dwelling  of  a  family  named  Steele, 
near  the  railroad.  Crossing  the  track  and  passing  the 
old  Burying  Ground,  we  come  to  a  long,  old  fashioned 
house  in  which  the  Leavitts  dwelt,  and  in  old  times 
kept  an  inn.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  White 
Cap  Society,  described  in  Bell's  History  of  Exeter.  I 
have  often  heard  my  grandfather  tell  of  it.  The  affair 
took  place  before  the  nineteenth  century  came  in. 
I  do  not  know  who  were  the  dupes;  if  I  ever  heard 
them,  their  names  are  forgotten. 

The  Leavitts  were  hatters  by  trade.  The  men  of 
those  days  wore  ^'stove-pipes"  and  they  were  made 
of  fur;  afterwards  came  those  made  of  silk  plush.  On 
this  side  of  the  house  was  a  one-story  shop  for  making 


60  EXETER  IN  1830 

hats.  I  do  not  know  where  they  were  sold,  but  think 
it  was  the  custom  for  those  wishing  a  hat  to  go  and  have 
it  made  to  order.  One  lasted  a  good  many  years;  fashion 
had  not  much  influence  then.  The  Leavitts  were 
prominent  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  town.  One 
of  the  daughters  of  this  family  married  Mr.  Abner 
Merrill  (father  of  Dr.  Abner),  and  a  good  kind  mother 
she  was.  Another  was  the  mother  of  Mr.  William 
Eobinson,  who  founded  the  Seminary.  Mr.  Samuel 
Leavitt  was  the  last  of  the  family  name  to  occupy  the 
house,  he  leaving  it  to  his  daughters. 

Beyond  the  Leavitt  house  on  the  same  side  of  the 
street  were  three  houses.  The  first  was  occupied,  I 
think,  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  by  Mrs.  Hopkinson. 
I  remember  nothing  particular  of  the  family  except 
that  a  daughter  was  married  to  a  Mr.  Miles,  a  brewer 
of  New  York;  they  used  to  come  to  Exeter  in  the 
summer.  There  was  a  Noyes  Hopkinson,  who  lived 
opposite  the  pound;  what  relation  he  was  to  this  Mrs. 
Hopkinson  I  cannot  say.  He  was  an  intemperate 
person  and  a  singular  character.  On  Town  Meeting 
Day  he  always  made  a  speech,  which  brought  no  re- 
sult except  to  furnish  amusement  to  the  crowd. 

The  house  next  to  Mrs.  Hopkinson' s  was  occupied 
by  a  family  named  Hooke.  One  of  them  was  always 
spoken  of  as  '^Sister  Hooke'';  she  was  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Baptist  Church,  commonly  called 
Freewillers,  and  a  very  frequent  exhorter  in  their  meet- 
ings. In  the  next  house  there  dwelt,  late  in  the  thirties, 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Ferguson,  who,  coming  home 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  61 

intoxicated,  shot  and  killed  his  wife.  He  was  once 
quite  a  respectable  man,  his  wife  came  from  a  very  good 
family,  and  the  children  were  nice,  also;  but  the  love 
of  liquor  ruined  him.  I  think  this  is  the  only  homicide 
that  has  occurred  in  this  town  during  my  life. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  intemperance  in  those 
days,  and  drunkards  were  seen  frequently  on  the  streets. 
There  was  one  woman  drunkard  who  sometimes  ap- 
peared, to  the  amusement  of  us  boys. 

The  last  house  on  Front  Street  had  served  earher 
as  the  Academy  building  before  it  was  removed  to 
this  lot.  It  was  the  home  of  Deacon  John  Gordon, 
who  cultivated  the  land  adjoining,  and  also  carried 
milk  to  a  few  customers  in  town.  As  almost  every  well- 
to-do  family  kept  a  cow,  the  trade  was  not  very  large. 
I  think  he  was  the  j&rst  to  enter  the  business.  The 
Deacon  was  very  musical,  and  I  can  recall  him  dis- 
tinctly in  the  singing  seats  of  the  First  Church, 
sawing  away  on  his  double  bass.  Meetings  had  a 
great  attraction  for  him;  no  weather,  however  severe, 
would  prevent  his  attendance,  and  no  consideration 
for  his  old  horse,  which  I  have  seen  on  many  cold  nights 
hitched  in  front  of  the  church.  Deacon  Gordon  had 
four  daughters  who  grew  up  to  be  estimable  women, 
and  a  son  who  inherited  his  father's  musical  talent. 
Mrs.  Gordon's  family  were  musical  also.  The  Deacon 
was  a  good  man,  firm  and  stiff  in  his  rehgious  belief. 

A  deacon  of  the  old  time  was  entirely  different  from 
those  that  we  meet  nowadays;  they  were  not  the  beloved 
of  the  boys  of  their   time.     I  remember  a  story  that 


62  EXETER  IN  1830 

used  to  be  told  of  an  occurrence  which  took  place  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Association  of  Congregational  ministers 
of  this  county,  when  the  subject  of  temperance  was 
under  discussion.  The  then  minister  of  the  Second 
Parish  of  this  town  made  a  scathing  report  of  the 
condition  of  Exeter  regarding  the  sale  and  consmnp- 
tion  of  ardent  spirits,  stating  that  they  were  even 
sold  from  milk  wagons.  The  fun  came  in  when  it  de- 
veloped that  the  only  persons  who  delivered  milk 
about  the  town  were  two  deacons!  The  minister's 
own  delegate  arose  and  repudiated  the  story.  This 
did  not  happen  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  but 
some  years  afterwards;  the  mention  of  deacons  brings 
the  story  to  mind. 

Let  us  now  retiurn  by  the  other  side  of  Front  Street. 
The  first  house  we  come  to,  after  crossing  the  street 
at  the  Gordon  house,  was  situated  nearly  opposite  the 
Leavitt  house.  It  was  an  old  house;  its  origin  I  do 
not  know,  but  have  heard  it  called  the  Smith  place. 
It  was  owned  by  Captain  Nathaniel  Oilman,  was  rented 
to  poor  families,  and  often  unoccupied.  An  Indian 
baby  was  born  in  this  house.  The  next  house  stood 
where  the  shoe  shop  now  is.  It  was  a  long,  low,  one- 
story  building.  It  was  moved,  and  now  stands  next 
to  Greeley's  marble  shop  on  Winter  Street.  A  Mr. 
Gilman  Hved  there.  I  cannot  give  his  first  name,  as 
he  was  always  called  Dipper  Gilman;  the  reason  for 
this  appellation  I  never  learned.  I  know  nothing  of 
his  occupation  or  his  family,  but  think  that  his  wife 
was  a  Loud.   Across  the  railroad,  as  it  now  is,  townwards, 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  63 

there  was  a  field,  partly  covered  with  pine  trees.  On 
this  lot,  which  was  sandy,  Doctor  Flood  used  to  bury 
his  dead  animals.  There  was  no  house  the  entire  dis- 
tance until  you  reached  the  house  at  the  intersection 
of  Front  and  Linden  streets,  then  called  the  Hildreth 
and  later  the  Sam  Tilt  on  house.  The  easterly  portion 
was  built  about  1730,  by  Daniel  Gilman,  and  the  rest 
added  twenty-five  years  later.  It  was  occupied  a  num- 
ber of  years  by  Rev.  Hosea  Hildreth,  one  of  the  Acad- 
emy professors,  and  I  believe  Dr.  Soule  resided  in  it 
for  a  short  time.  Afterwards  Mr.  Samuel  Tilton  bought 
it,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  there.  His  widow 
Uved  there  until  a  few  years  ago.  Mr.  Tilton  was  an 
honest,  industrious,  and  respected  citizen. 

In  this  old  house  George  Whitefield,  when  he  preached 
his  last  sermon  here,  dined  with  Colonel  Daniel  Gilman, 
who  sympathized  most  heartily  with  his  views.  That 
night  Mr.  Whitefield  died.  Ten  years  later  Mr.  Gilman 
died  suddenly  in  church  during  the  Sunday  service. 
Between  this  house  and  that  of  Mr.  John  Lovering, 
before  mentioned,  there  were  no  houses;  but  turning 
up  what  is  now  Linden  Street,  one  came  to  a  two-story 
brick  house  owned  by  Daniel  Elliott.  Mr.  Elliott's  wife 
was  a  Tilton,  sister  to  Samuel,  Joseph,  and  Winthrop. 
Two  daughters  and  a  son  survived  them,  and  all  are 
living  in  this  town  at  the  present  time.  One  daughter 
married  Robert  Carter,  the  other  Nathaniel  Welch.  The 
house  stood  close  to  the  street.  It  was  torn  down, 
some  time  in  the  seventies,  I  think,  and  the  land  an- 
nexed to  Mr.  Henry  Moses'  estate. 


64  EXETER  IN  1830 

The  next  house  was  situated  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Campus,  a  long,  narrow,  low  building  of  one  story 
in  which  dwelt  Mr.  ''Life"  Kimball,  his  wife,  son,  and 
daughter.  Mr.  KimbaH's  chief  employment  was  the 
care  of  the  Court  house  and  County  building;  and  he 
acted  as  messenger  when  the  Court  was  in  session; 
an  honest,  faithful  man.  The  son  was  a  failure.  He 
went  into  the  navy  dinging  the  war,  and  I  have  no 
recollection  of  his  ever  returning.  The  daughter  married 
Mr.  Mark  Holmes  and  is  still  Uving. 

Near  the  large  elm  trees,  about  at  the  centre  of  the 
Campus,  stood  the  residence  of  Mr.  Marsh.  I  am  not 
sure  of  his  Christian  name,  though  I  think  it  was  either 
Jeremiah  or  Samuel;  but  he  was  usually  spoken  of  by 
the  name  of  ''Candy"  Marsh  among  the  boys  who  were 
his  customers.  The  house,  of  a  story  and  a  half,  was 
old  and  weather  beaten.  In  the  floor  of  the  room  as  we 
entered,  was  a  trap  door  which  opened  on  the  cellar. 
Mr.  Marsh  was  a  kind-hearted  man  of  no  great  force 
and  hampered  by  a  lame  leg.  His  hving  was  obtained 
principally  by  selhng  molasses  candy  and  small  beer, 
and  he  used  to  have  a  round  cake,  which  I  believe  he 
called  lemon  cake.  I  can  recall  very  vividly  the  old 
man  limping  down  the  street,  wheehng  his  barrow. 
He  had  an  ordinary  wheelbarrow,  the  body  entirely 
enclosed.  Inside  was  a  tin  box  with  tin  sheets,  between 
which  the  sticks  of  candy  were  placed —  and  they  were 
generous  sticks,  sold  one  for  a  cent.  There  was  a 
board  with  holes  cut,  in  which  the  bottles  of  beer  were 
securely  placed.     I  think  the  beer  was  sold  for  two 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  65 

cents  a  tumbler.  It  was  very  good!  I  have  of  ten  wished 
for  a  drink  of  it  since.  I  do  not  remember  how  the  cake 
was  carried.  The  opening  to  these  dehghts  was  through 
the  top  of  the  barrow,  which  was  a  very  handy  cart 
for  the  purpose.  Mr.  Marsh  and  his  movable  confection- 
ery store  attended  all  gatherings,  always  was  stationed 
at  the  Court  house  while  Coiurt  was  in  session,  and 
used  to  appear  at  the  Academy  steps  at  recess  and 
intermission,  though  cents  were  not  plenty  in  boys' 
pockets  in  those  days.  His  beer  was  made  entirely 
of  roots  and  herbs  gathered  in  the  woods,  and  was 
very  foaming.  I  do  not  know  of  a  more  satisfying 
drink  on  a  hot  day  than  a  glass  of  this  beer,  especially 
when  you  went  to  his  house  and  drank  it  there,  he 
going  down  through  that  trap  door  and  bringing  up 
a  bottle  cool  from  the  cellar.  We  children  thought 
his  candy  very  nice  also.  The  varied  confectionery 
of  today  was  entirely  unknown  then,  not  much  but 
peppermints  and  long  sticks  of  sugar  candy  being  for 
sale.  Our  coppers  went  most  often  for  a  cent's  worth 
of  cask  raisins,  which  were  put  loose  into  our  trousers 
pocket. 

Mrs.  Marsh  was  a  woman  of  more  than  common 
abihty.  There  were  four  sons,  and  she  pushed  at  least 
two  of  them  through  the  Academy,  one  becoming  a 
clergyman.  The  father's  last  days  were  made  easy  by 
the  kindness  of  his  son. 

Back  of  this  house,  close  to  the  woods,  lived  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Willey.  I  do  not  remember  what  he  did 
for  a  Hving.    He  had  a  family,  and  one  of  his  daughters 


66  EXETER  IN  1830 

married  Mr.  Joseph  Tilton,  the  father  of  J.  Warren 
Tilton.  The  next  house  was  a  story  and  a  half  house 
which  belonged  to  my  father;  it  was  sold  to  Mr.  Joseph 
Tilton  after  he  married  Miss  Willey.  Mr.  Tilton  lived 
with  us  for  many  years,  working  in  the  starch  mill, 
driving  the  loads  of  starch  to  Lowell,  and  assisting 
in  many  ways  about  the  house  —  carrying  my  sister 
to  school  on  stormy  days.  He  was  always  patient  and 
kind  to  us  little  children,  honest,  capable,  and  devoted 
to  my  father's  interests.  We  were  all  very  fond  of  him. 
His  oldest  son  was  named  for  my  father. 

After  purchasing  the  house  he  altered  and  enlarged 
it.  It  is  still  standing  there,  the  second  house  from 
the  Campus.  Afterward,  he  bought  out  the  business 
of  soap  making  from  his  brother,  and  carried  it  on 
successfully  for  many  years,  his  son,  Mr.  J.  Warren 
Tilton,  succeeding  him  in  the  same  line.  In  my  boyish 
days  we  had  not  the  soaps  for  washing  that  are  now 
sold,  so  all  families  used  what  is  called  soft  soap,  and 
each  family  used  to  make  its  own  supply  for  the  year. 
A  hogshead  full  of  ashes  furnished  the  lye,  and  all  fat 
and  grease  was  set  aside  for  this  purpose.  This  prac- 
tice was  continued  until  soap  factories  were  established. 
I  think  the  first  one  here  was  built  by  Mr.  John  Clement, 
on  Captain  Oilman's  lane  near  the  river.  He  also 
made  tallow  candles,  which  were  much  used  in  those 
days.  I  can  remember  when  we  made  them  for  use 
in  our  house. 

The  next,  and  last,  house  on  this  (the  east)  side  of  the 
street  was  a  very  old  house  with  the  gable  end  toward 


FRONT  STREET  IN  1830  67 

the  street,  the  top  story  or  attic  overhanging  the  first. 
I  have  the  impression  that  it  was  a  garrison  house. 
I  do  not  remember  who  Hved  there,  but  think  it  was  at 
one  time  the  home  of  one  of  the  old  time  colored  per- 
sons. The  woods,  called  Cuffee's  Woods,  came  close 
up  to  the  yard.  I  cannot  tell  whether  this  house  was 
torn  down  or  moved  away.  On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  the  house  now  standing,  which  was  for- 
merly the  farmhouse  of  Mr.  Henry  Moses,  was  built  by 
Mr.  Greeley  Batchelder,  a  mason  by  trade;  his  father 
and  family  lived  there,  Mr.  Batchelder,  I  think,  went 
to  California.  This  house  was  built  some  time  later  than 
the  period  of  which  I  am  writing.  The  next  house,  re- 
turning towards  the  town,  was  a  small  house,  I  think  the 
one  now  owTied  by  the  heirs  of  William  P.  Tilton.  In  it 
dwelt  Mr.  Winthrop  Tilton.  The  house  adjoins  the 
Cemetery,  which  was  not  laid  out  until  after  the  time 
of  which  I  am  writing.  It  has  all  been  filled  within 
my  memory.  I  remember  the  talk  in  relation  to  it. 
Many  people  wanted  it  located  on  Powder  House  Point; 
the  principal  argument  against  this  was  the  inacces- 
sibihty  of  the  situation,  as  there  was  only  a  narrow  lane 
along  the  river  side,  in  front  of  the  factory.  No  thought 
was  taken  of  the  possible  growth  of  the  village,  which 
was  started  by  the  building  of  the  railroad  through  its 
western  end.  There  was  no  building  between  the  house 
last  mentioned  and  that  of  Mr.  Samuel  Tilton. 

As  I  close  this  sketch,  I  beheve  that  I  have  mentioned 
every  house  on  both  sides  of  Front  Street  from  Water 
Street  to  the  end.     Of  the  families  who  dwelt  there 


68 


EXETER  IN  1830 


nearly  seventy-five  years  ago  I  have  written  down  my 
boyish  recollections,  without  much  premeditation,  just 
as  they  came  into  my  mind  at  the  time  of  penning  them. 
I  hope  that  these  recollections  may  be  of  interest  and 
perhaps  useful  to  some  seeker  after  the  past  of  the  old 
town. 


IN  THE  THIRTIES 

Republished  from  the  Bulletin  of  The  Phillips  Exeter  Academy 

for  March,  1907     * 

IN  accordance  with  the  editor's  request,  I  will  attempt 
for  the  Bulletin  a  description  of  the  Philhps  Exeter 
Academy  and  its  school-building  as  they  were  when 
I  entered  more  than  three  score  and  ten  years  ago,  be- 
coming a  pupil  in  1833.  Although  so  many  years  have 
passed,  my  memories  of  the  school  and  of  my  fellow- 
students  are  still  clear.  As  far  as  is  known,  only  two 
who  were  members  of  the  school  when  I  entered  are 
living,  Edward  H.  Daveis,  Esq.,  of  Portland,  Maine, 
and  Mr.  John  G.  Oilman,  of  Exeter,  both  of  whom 
came  into  the  school  in  1832.  If  we  three  are  the  oldest 
of  the  alumni  living,  it  is  a  singular  coincidence  that 
we  are  all  descendants  of  one  old  family  of  Exeter, 
being  grandsons  of  two  brothers  Oilman. 

The  Academy  at  that  time  had  a  very  high  reputa- 
tion, although  the  number  of  its  pupils  was  limited  to 
about  seventy-five.  They  came  largely  from  New 
England,  with  a  few  from  the  Middle  States  and  the 
South.  The  faculty  had  but  three  members,  Dr.  Abbot, 
Dr.  Soule,  and  Mr.  Francis  Bowen,  teachers  respectively 
of  Latin,  Oreek,  and  English.  In  the  old  catalogues 
appears  the  name  of  Rev.  Isaac  Hurd,  '' Theological 
Instructor,"  but  while  I  was  a  student  he  only  came 


70  EXETER  IN  1830 

in  once  or  twice  and  gave  a  lecture.  Mr.  Bowen  left  in 
1835,  having  been  appointed  to  a  professorship  in  Har- 
vard College.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  William  H. 
Shackford,  a  fine  scholar  and  a  faithful  teacher.  Mr. 
Henry  French  came  in  as  an  instructor  in  1836,  to  assist 
Dr.  Abbot,  and  was  very  popular  with  his  scholars. 
Neither  of  these  promising  young  men  lived  to  serve 
the  Academy  long,  the  former  dying  in  1842,  the  latter 
in  1840.  Dr.  Abbot  rounded  out  his  fifty  years  of  ser- 
vice in  1838.  I  knew  no  other  principal.  He  was  a 
very  courtly,  dignified  man,  with  old-school  manners. 
His  characteristics  as  a  teacher  were  well  summed  up 
by  Mr.  Everett,  at  the  dinner  given  to  the  Doctor  on 
his  retirement,  in  the  Latin  phrase  suaviter  in  modo, 
fortiter  in  re.  Dr.  Soule  became  principal  after  I  left 
the  Academy,  and  followed  the  general  policy  inaugu- 
rated by  Dr.  Abbot.  He  was  a  noticeable  figure,  dignified 
and  gentlemanly  in  manner,  an  interesting  conversation- 
alist, and  unsurpassed  as  a  classical  teacher. 

As  I  have  said,  the  number  of  students  was  limited 
to  seventy-five  or  eighty,  the  number  that  could  be 
seated  in  the  school-room.  Later  in  Dr.  Soule' s  admin- 
istration the  room  was  enlarged  by  throwing  into  it  the 
main  entry  to  the  building.  We  went  to  school  in  the 
warm  weather  at  half-past  seven  in  the  morning,  re- 
maining until  half-past  eleven,  with  an  intermission  of 
twenty-five  minutes.  In  winter  the  hours  were  from 
eight  to  twelve,  with  a  fifteen-minute  recess.  The 
afternoon  session  began  at  two  o'clock  and  continued 
until  five,  except  in  the  short  days,  when  we  were  dis- 


IN  THE  THIRTIES  71 

missed  earlier,  as  there  was  no  means  of  lighting  the 
rooms.  There  were  half-hohdays  on  Wednesdays  and 
Saturdays. 

.The  course  of  study  for  entrance  to  college  embraced 
three  years.    Many  remained  through  the  foiu*th  year, 
studjdng  the  course  prescribed  for  the  freshman  year 
in  the  college  of  their  choice,  and  entering  as  sopho- 
mores.   As  boys  were  admitted  to  the  Academy  at  the 
age  of  ten,  they  could  enter  college  very  young,  if  able 
to  follow  the  course.     There  was,  however,  no  strict 
classification.     I   finished  Viri  Romce  with  a  class  of 
eight;    but  as  the  others  were  all  much  older  than  I, 
when  they  began  Cicero,  Dr.  Abbot  thought  it  too  hard 
for  me,  and  I  recited  Caesar  by  myself.    Those  prepar- 
ing for   college  began  the  study  of   Latin  with    the 
grammar,  and  this  was  followed  by  Liber  Primus,  Latin 
reader,    Viri  Romce,   Csesar,   Cornehus  Nepos,  Cicero, 
and  all  of  Virgil;    in  Greek  we  studied  the  grammar, 
then  a  little  book  called  the  Delectus,  and  later  Jacobs's 
Greek  Reader;  in  English,  arithmetic  and  algebra.     If 
we  were  going  to  Harvard,  we  used  Euler's  algebra;   if 
to  Dartmouth  or  Yale,  Day's.    We  also  had  exercises  in 
tiu"ning  English  into  Latin,   and  once  in  a  while  an 
English  composition  was  required.     In  addition,  there 
was  regular  instruction  in  penmanship.     This  is  the 
course  as  I  remember  it,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  our 
instruction  was  mostly  in  the  dead  languages.     There 
was  also  an  English  department  giving  a  three-year 
course  entirely  distinct  from  the  classical  course.    The 
scholars  in  this  department  studied  and  recited  in  what 


72  EXETER  IN  1830 

was  called  the  English  room,  and  those  preparing  for 
college  went  to  this  room  to  recite  in  the  mathematics 
required  for  entrance  to  college.  No  other  course  in 
EngHsh  was  required  for  college,  nor  any  other  modern 
language,  though  Mr.  Shackford  had  some  pupils  in 
French.  The  regular  English  course  I  knew  very  little 
about,  but  I  judge  that  it  was  a  good  one. 

Dr.  Abbot  used  to  say  in  his  little  speech  (he  was  not  a 
wordy  man)  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  year  that  he 
considered  us  young  gentlemen,  and  meant  to  treat  us 
as  such.  This  principle  he  carried  out  faithfully.  He 
was  greatly  respected  by  his  pupils.  He  took  off  his 
hat  and  bowed  courteously  on  meeting  any  of  them; 
and  whenever  he  appeared  in  the  yard,  the  boys  took 
off  their  caps  as  he  went  by,  and  stopped  their  play 
until  he  had  passed  through  the  gate.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber that  he  ever  twitted  a  boy  for  any  peculiarity  or 
made  him  the  subject  of  a  joke  or  the  laughing-stock  of 
others.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  other  teachers. 
They  were  firm  and  kept  strict  discipline,  but  they  were 
always  gentlemen. 

The  students  stood  up  on  the  entrance  of  the  instruct- 
or and  remained  standing  until  he  had  walked  up  the 
aisle  to  his  seat.  Each  room  had  a  head  monitor,  a 
'Hardy''  monitor,  and  two  or  three  inspectors.  The 
head  monitor,  mounted  in  the  topmost  seat,  was  the 
chief  ruler  when  the  instructor  was  absent;  and  the 
''tardy"  monitor  kept  a  list  of  absences  and  tardinesses. 
The  inspectors  maintained  order  in  the  school-room 
during  recess  and  noontime,  and  reported  any  disorder* 


IN  THE  THIRTIES  73 

These  inspectors  were  as  a  general  rule  the  most  un- 
popular boys  in  school,  as  they  were  very  apt  to  magnify 
their  office,  and  the  others  delighted  to  annoy  them. 
On  Saturday  the  monitors  handed  their  lists  of  absences 
and  tardinesses  to  Dr.  Abbot,  when  they  were  read  by 
him  before  the  whole  school,  and  other  infractions  of 
the  rules  were  also  published.  This  gathering  up  of  the 
week's  delinquencies  went  by  the  name  of  ^Hhe  bill." 
Dr.  Abbot  read  it  with  impressiveness,  received  the  ex- 
cuses, and  imposed  the  punishments.  For  small  mis- 
demeanors the  offender  had  to  sweep  the  room,  and  for 
more  flagrant  ones  to  sweep  it  for  a  week.  The  richer 
boys  used  to  hire  the  poorer  ones  to  sweep  for  them,  so 
the  penalty  was  not  very  severe. 

Boys  were  very  rarely  suspended  or  expelled.  They 
boarded  in  good  families  in  the  town  and  were  under 
good  influences.  They  were  treated  as  members  of  the 
family  and  subject  to  its  discipline.  If  there  was  trouble 
in  the  house,  the  head  of  the  family  usually  settled  it 
without  carrying  it  to  the  faculty.  The  price  for  board 
and  room  in  the  best  places  was  not  more  than  two 
dollars  and  a  half  a  week.  Tuition  was  fourteen  dollars 
a  year,  payable  to  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith,  the  treasurer, 
and  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

We  played  ball  in  the  spring  and  kicked  football  in 
the  fall;  skating  and  coasting  were  the  only  amusements 
of  the  winter.  I  remember  one  old  custom  which  was 
handed  down  to  the  boys  of  my  time.  When  the  first 
snow  came,  the  older  boys  used  to  wash  the  faces  of  the 
new  ones.     At  times  also  ^Hown  and  gown''  conflicts 


74  EXETER  IN  1830 

burst  out.  The  aggressive  ^Hownies"  were  the  older 
boys  in  the  pubHc  schools  and  the  young  apprentices, 
of  whom  there  was  a  large  number  in  town. 

At  this  time  the  school  owned  but  two  buildings,  the 
recitation-building  and  the  pleasant  old-fashioned  dwell- 
ing-house for  the  principal,  which  is  still  in  use,  much 
altered  in  appearance.  As  there  is  no  record,  I  am  led 
to  believe,  of  the  plan  of  the  old  Academy,  I  will  try  to 
describe  it  accurately,  hoping  to  bring  back  some  pleas- 
ant memories  to  those  who  long  ago  studied  within  its 
walls,  or  sat  anxiously  waiting  for  the  welcome  order  to 
'^  strike  the  bell.^'  It  was  a  well-proportioned  and  hand- 
some structure,  built  of  wood  in  what  is  called  the 
colonial  style,  painted  white  with  green  blinds.  The 
central  portion  was  of  two  stories,  having  on  each  side 
a  one-story  wing  with  a  narrow  veranda  across  the  front. 
A  walk  between  two  rows  of  trees  running  at  right 
angles  to  the  street  led  directly  to  the  main  entrance 
in  the  center  of  the  building.  From  this  main  entrance 
an  ample  hall  led  through  to  a  corresponding  door  at 
the  back.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance  was  a  room 
occupied  by  the  library  of  the  Golden  Branch  Society. 
Adjoining  this  was  a  small  room  sometimes  used  by  the 
English  instructor.  Back  of  these  was  a  space  contain- 
ing a  broad  staircase,  and  back  of  the  stair  another 
room,  called  the  '^philosophical  room,"  which  in  my 
time  was  not  used.  I  think  it  contained  some  anti- 
quated physical  apparatus. 

Half-way  down  the  entry,  on  the  left,  a  door  opened 
into  the  Latin  room,  which  extended  the  whole  depth 


IN  THE  THIRTIES  75 

of  the  building,  and  was  used  for  prayers,  which  were 
held  morning  and  evening,  week-days  and  Sundays. 
From  the  door  a  central  aisle  ran  through  the  room  to  a 
large  chimney  and  fireplace.  In  this  aisle  stood  a  cast- 
iron  stove,  its  pipe  running  nearly  the  whole  width  of 
the  room  to  the  chimney.  The  stove  warmed  the  room 
most  of  the  time,  but  in  extreme  cold  the  great  fireplace 
also  was  piled  high  with  burning  wood.  Rows  of  pine 
desks  and  benches,  unpainted  and  well  marked  by 
pocket-knives,  rose  on  an  incline  from  the  fireplace 
towards  the  entrance.  Each  desk  accommodated  two 
boys,  and  its  front  supplied  in  some  measure  the  lack 
of  a  back-rest  on  the  bench  before  it.  The  rear  seats 
were  two  steps  above  the  floor,  and  in  one  of  these,  close 
by  the  door,  the  monitor  sat.  The  seats  were  known  as 
'^ boxes.''  Dr.  Abbot's  place  was  at  the  front  corner  of 
the  room,  in  a  kind  of  octagonal  pulpit  raised  a  couple 
of  steps  from  the  floor.  Against  the  front  wall  stood 
the  inclosed  recitation-bench,  built  like  a  pew  with  a 
panelled  barrier  in  front,  in  which  seven  or  eight  boys 
could  be  seated.  A  larger  class  spread  over  into  the 
adjoining  boxes.  To  hear  a  recitation  the  teacher  must 
tiu-n  half  round,  and  then  saw  his  class  only  in  per- 
spective. Another  pulpit  occupied  the  opposite  corner, 
but  in  my  time  it  was  unused.  There  was  nothing  to 
enliven  the  monotony  of  the  room,  not  a  picture  nor  a 
cast,  nor  even  a  map.  The  only  ornament  was  Dr. 
Phillips's  old,  tall  family  clock  with  decorated  case, 
which  unfortunately  was  lost  in  the  fire. 

Each    wing    contained    a    recitation-room    similarly 


76  EXETER  IN  1830 

arranged,  but  smaller.  The  one  in  the  westerly  wing 
was  called  the  Greek  room;  that  in  the  easterly,  the 
English  room.  The  latter  had  a  small  blackboard. 
There  were  entrances  to  both  these  rooms  from  the 
verandas.  From  the  Latin  room  you  could  pass  through 
an  entry  to  the  Greek  room,  but  there  was  no  access  to 
the  English  room  except  by  going  out  of  doors. 

Under  the  central  portion  of  the  building  was  a  deep 
cellar,  usually  filled  with  great  quantities  of  wood.  It 
contained  a  large  fireplace,  and  a  little  room  called  by 
the  boys  ^Hhe  dungeon,"  from  a  tradition  that  in  former 
times  pupils  were  sent  there  in  punishment  for  small 
misdemeanors. 

The  stairway  between  the  Golden  Branch  room  and 
the  philosophical  room  led  to  the  hall  above.  From  the 
upper  landing  also  opened  a  small  room  containing  the 
Academy  library,  which  consisted  largely  of  old  sermons 
and  some  history,  scarcely  ever  read.  The  tradition 
about  this  room  was  that  boys  were  brought  in  here  to 
be  flogged.  Nothing  of  that  kind  was  done  in  my  day, 
and  I  never  heard  of  any  one  who  had  known  of  it. 
From  the  landing  a  steep  flight  of  stairs  ascended  to 
the  attic.  This  was  unfinished,  showing  the  lath  and 
plaster  ceiling  of  the  room  below.  A  walk  along  the 
beams  led  under  the  cupola,  where  hung  the  bell-rope; 
and  here  the  bell-ringer  had  to  come  to  perform  his 
office.  The  cupola  was  of  good  size,  with  windows,  and 
the  woodwork  was  cut  with  the  initials  and  the  full  names 
of  many  boys.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Daniel  Webster^s 
was  among  them,  but  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  it. 


IN  THE  THIRTIES  77 

Except  for  the  landing  and  the  little  Ubrary,  the  hall 
occupied  the  whole  of  the  second  story.  It  had  at  its 
western  end  a  stage  and  side  scenes.  I  never  knew  it  to 
be  used  for  any  piu-pose  but  the  yearly  '^  exhibition/' 
which  took  place  at  the  end  of  the  school  year,  usually 
about  the  twentieth  of  August.  It  can  thus  be  seen  that 
we  were  confined  to  these  rooms  and  these  uncomforta- 
ble seats  dm-ing  the  larger  portion  of  the  hot  summer. 
Our  instructors  worked  assiduously,  and  were  never 
absent  unless  compelled  by  sickness.  There  were  three 
vacations  in  the  year  of  three  weeks  each. 

There  was  only  one  social  event  during  the  whole  year 
and  that  was  the  exhibition.    The  exercises  consisted  of 
a  salutatory  and  a  valedictory,  dissertations,  and  an 
oration,    together    with    dialogues,    usually   in    Latin. 
There  was  music,  and  an  ode  written  by  one  of  the  stu- 
dents was  sung.    About  a  fortnight  before  the  day  plans 
began  to  be  made  for  trimming  the  hall.    The  evergreens 
had  to  be  collected,  and  every  boy  had  to  invite  his 
particular  girl  to  come  and  assist.    They  worked  in  the 
early  mornings  and  on  holiday  afternoons,  and  each  girl 
was  escorted  to  and  from  the  Academy  by  her  partner 
at  every  meeting.     They  picked  off  the  twigs  of  the 
evergreens,  tied  them  in  bunches,  and  tacked  them  over 
the  sides  and  front  of  the  stage,  interspersing  them 
with  hop-blooms.     The  effect  was  very  pretty.     Long 
festoons  of  the  greens  were  hung  around  the  hall  also. 
Many  families  had  young  girl  visitors  at  this  season, 
some  coming  year  after  year;  and  older  people  of  char- 
acter and  dignity  thought  it  worth  while  to  come  to 


78  EXETER  IN  1830 

Exeter  for  the  occasion.  There  was  no  levee  or  ball, 
but  there  was  a  good  deal  of  entertaining  in  private 
families.  It  was  a  very  joyous  season,  and  gave  us 
young  people  much  happiness.  Even  now  the  pleas- 
ures of  those  festivals  are  still  fresh  in  my  memory. 
Nothing  was  for  mere  show,  but  simpUcity  and  good 
taste  were  the  characteristics  of  those  days. 

The  old  Academy  burned  on  the  night  of  the  seven- 
teenth of  December,  1870.  The  fire  was  said  to  have 
been  caused  by  the  contact  of  hot  ashes  with  the  saw- 
dust on  the  floor  of  the  cellar.  It  had  eaten  its  way 
into  the  sohd  oak  framework  before  it  was  discovered, 
when  it  was  hopeless  to  try  to  fight  it  with  the  feeble 
hand-engines  of  that  day  and  the  scanty  supply  of  water. 
There  was  litUe  to  do  but  stand  by  and  watch  the 
flames  gradually  devour  the  building.  The  fire  raged 
for  hours.  A  heavy  cloud  of  illuminated  smoke  sprin- 
kled with  sparks  blew  towards  the  river  in  a  grand 
ajch, —  a  beautiful  but  sad  spectacle. 


OUTDOOR  PARTIES 

OPPOSITE  the  farmhouse  of  the  late  Hemy  G. 
Moses  on  Linden  Street  was  a  queer  old  house, 
and  contiguous  to  that  was  a  very  pretty  growth 
of  hard  wood  trees.  It  was  known  as  ^^Cuffee's  Woods." 
The  grove  was  a  favorite  resort  for  the  young  boys  and 
girls  in  their  walks.  The  other  places  frequented  were 
the  Eddy,  and  a  place  near  the  sawmill  on  the  Brentwood 
road,  which  bore  the  high-soxmding  name  of  the  ''Vale  of 
Avoca."  It  was  the  custom  of  that  time  on  hohdays,  for 
the  young  men,  especially  the  students  of  the  Academy, 
to  get  up  a  ''Walk."  Each  one  would  select  and  invite  a 
girl;  the  company  would  start  from  an  appointed  place, 
and  spend  the  afternoon  in  one  of  these  groves.  The 
principal  amusement  was  conversation;  rarely  were  there 
games  or  eatables.  Sometimes  when  they  went  to  the 
Eddy  some  one  would  row  up  in  a  boat,  and  that  would 
be  used  in  rowing  short  distances.  There  were  not  many 
boats  on  the  river  at  that  time.  The  Eddy  in  later  times 
became  a  popular  resort  for  individuals  and  large  parties, 
the  fine  old  pines  and  the  winding  river  making  it  a  very 
attractive  place.  The  removal  of  the  pines  was  lament- 
ed by  all. 


COLLEGE  EXPENSES 

Extracts  from  the  accounts  kept  by  William  G.  Perry  of 
his  expenses  at  Dartmouth  College  during  his  senior  year. 
The  items  represent  the  expenditures  of  a  well-to-do  student. 
While  they  illustrate  the  simplicity  of  college  life  in  the  '40s, 
they  may  also  afford  some  slight  suggestion  toward  the  study 
of  comparative  cost  of  living.  Oil  at  37  cents  per  quart  is 
costly  compared  with  kerosene  at  12  cents  per  gallon,  but  it 
was  evidently  sparingly  used.  Board  at  the  most  expensive 
boarding  house  in  Hanover  cost  the  student  Perry  $2.25  per 
week.  An  important  feature  of  his  wardrobe  was  a  green 
broadcloth  cloak  with  silver  clasps. 


Fare  up  here  and  expenses   $6.00 

For  furniture 4.73 

Cleaning  Room  and  moving    .78 
Ticket  for  Lecture     ...       .25 

Hair  cutting 11 

Society  tax 1.40 

Pears  and  Plums    ....         .6}4 

A  Peck  of  Apples 123^ 

A  Quart  of  Oil 37)^ 

Hoarhound  Candy  for  cold      .05 
Tax  in  Class  Society     .   .        .0Q}4 
Wood  sawing  and  bringing  up  1.21 

Cord 03 

Blank  Book 30 

Repairing  Pants 20 

Liquorice .02 

Tuition  biU 11.44 

Catalogues 1.00 

Expenses  at  training     .    .      1.723^ 


Refreshment  for  myself  and 

two  fr 25 

Wrapping  Paper 09 

To  the  Temperance  Society  1.00 

Concert 25 

Matches 03 

2  lbs  raisins .25 

Post  Office  Bill 1.01^ 

Mr.  Condit's  address    .   .       .19 

Oris  Root 06M 

Class  Tax 13 

1  Qt.  Peanuts 8 

Wood 873^ 

Court  Plaster 06M 

1  Peck  of  Apples 123^ 

Butler's  Analogy 623^ 

Paid  the  Barber 623^ 

Quart  of  oil 373^ 

Entry  tax 18M 


COLLEGE  EXPENSES 


81 


Gloves  and  sundries  .   . 


.90 


January  1,  1842 

Fare  up  and  expenses    .    .      4.16 
A  sheet  iron  Fireboard  .   .       .61 

Wood .     3.50 

A  qt  of  Oil 31 

Wafers  and  a  bottle  Ink  .        .12J^ 

Hair  Cutting 12 

Board  Bill 25.40 

Post  Office  BiU 1.26 

1  Pound  Raisins 123^ 

Summer  Term  May  29th,  1842 

Fare  up  and  expenses    .    .      5.82 

Term  BiU 16.14 

Board  Bill 32.00 

Mending  Pin 123^ 

Ice  creams 25 

Horseback  ride 373^ 


Monthly  Concert 18 

Scarf 373^ 

Edwards  on  the  Will     .   .       .92 

Ice  Creams 25 

J^  doz  Buttons 63^ 

GoldPm      4.25 

At  Moose  Mountain      .    .       .25 

A  Doz  Lemons 33 

Society  tax  and  Diploma  .     1.873^ 

Concert 25 

For  mending  Boots    ...        .50 

1  Pair  Gloves 33 

Filling  Diploma  and  Case        .75 

A  Pen  Knife 1.50 

A  Tooth  Brush 20 

Post  Office  Bill 1.32 

Coleridge's  Works      ...      1.80 

1  Ride 1.00 

Expenses  at  Haverhill  .  .  2.37H 
1  book  out  of  the  Library  .123^ 
Tax 1.50 


A 


COLORED  FOLK  IN  OLD  EXETER 

A  Fragment  from  a  Notebook 

SONG  that  the  Exeter  boys  used  to  sing  in  the 
thirties  and  before  ran: 

"Yesterday  was  training  day, 
Major  Parks  was  drummer, 
George  Hall  was  corpor-aul 
And  Ben  Jakes  commander." 

Major  Charles  Parks  was  skilled  as  a  drummer.  He 
Hved  on  High  Street  near  the  present  house  of  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Hall.  For  years  he  rang  the  town  bell.  It 
is  said  of  him  that  he  would  leave  the  bell  swinging, 
cross  the  street  to  the  tavern  and  drink  a  glass  of  grog 
before  the  bell  stopped  ringing. 

George  Hall  was  a  thick-set  negro  remarkable  for 
his  physical  strength.  Ben  Jakes  was  a  tall  negro, 
of  not  particularly  savory  fame,  whose  house  was  pulled 
down  on  account  of  its  reputation.  It  was  said  that 
Col.  Odlin  -read  the  riot  act,  at  the  same  time  en- 
couraging the  rioters  to  ^^PuU  away,  boys!"  I  remember 
all  these  persons  well.  The  house  of  Ben  Jakes  stood 
on  Portsmouth  Avenue,  though  I  think  he  had  also 
lived  at  one  time  in  the  Whitfield  house.  Whitfield  was 
a  negro  who  hved  in  a  one  story  house  which  stood  on 
what  was  later  Court  Street,  near  where  the  house  of 
the  late  Nathaniel  Jewell  now  stands.  I  do  not  remember 
Whitfield  well,  nor  do  I  know  what  his  employment 


COLORED  FOLK  IN  OLD  EXETER  83 

was,  but  he  was  famed  as  a  hunter  and  skilled  as  a 
marksman.  He  had  a  son  who  went  to  Buffalo  and  I 
think  established  himself  as  a  barber  there.  He  was  of 
a  literary  turn,  and  published  some  commendable  poems. 
Another  son  went  out  one  day  into  the  woods  in  search 
of  nuts,  and  climbed  into  a  thick-leaved  tree.  While 
he  was  among  the  branches,  a  young  man  named  Proctor, 
mistaking  him  for  some  animal,  shot  at  and  killed  him. 

The  father  of  this  Proctor  was  a  blacksmith,  who 
had  a  shop  near  where  the  old  saw  mill  stood.  He  was 
a  peculiar  man,  ingenious  and  of  an  inventive  turn 
of  mind.  He  made  axes  of  what  he  called  "  silver  steel" — 
his  own  invention.  I  remember  one  of  his  make  that 
we  had  when  I  was  a  boy.  He  lived,  with  a  number 
of  pretty  daughters,  in  a  house  situated  where  the 
Squamscott  now  stands.  The  family,  I  believe,  moved 
from  Exeter  to  New  York. 

To  return  to  the  negroes:  A  negro  well  known  in 
those  days  was  Harry  Manjoy.  He  was  brought  here 
by  Captain  Noah  Emery,  a  sea  captain,  who  picked 
him  up  in  some  foreign  port.  He  had  been  stolen  from 
his  home  in  Africa,  and  it  was  said  that  he  was  a 
prince  of  his  tribe.  He  was  quite  a  youth  when  Captain 
Emery  obtained  him.  At  my  earliest  recollection  of 
him  he  was  employed  as  an  hostler  in  the  stables  of 
the  stage  company.  He  was  a  very  steady  and  indus- 
trious man  and  had  a  family  equally  industrious  and 
respectable. 

Another  negro.  Josh  Zack,  who  was  also  employed 
in  the   stables,   possessed   one   accomphshment,   a  re- 


84  EXETER  IN  1830 

markable  ability  for  whistling.  He  left  here  suddenly 
and  was  never  seen  again.  The  story  ran  that  he  went 
to  sea  and  at  some  southern  port  was  seized  and  held 
as  a  slave. 

Perhaps  the  best  known  negro  of  them  all  was  Charles 
G.  Tash,  son  of  Oxford  Tash,  a  former  slave.  The  father 
had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  had 
been  freed  on  account  of  his  military  service.  Charles 
was  a  gentleman  as  far  as  manner  was  concerned, 
and  high  spirited.  He  lived  with  my  grandfather 
for  many  years,  and  was  also  body  servant  to  his  broth- 
er, the  Hon.  Nicholas  Oilman.  He  accompanied 
Commodore  Long  on  one  of  his  cruises  as  private  ser- 
vant, and  was  an  ideal  man  in  that  position.  He  fell 
in  love  with  a  white  girl  and  wanted  to  marry  her, 
but  her  parents  were  unwilling.  By  brooding  over 
his  disappointment  his  reason  became  unsettled.  After 
a  visit  one  evening  he  discharged  a  pistol  loaded  with 
two  bullets  at  the  young  woman,  wounding  her  dan- 
gerously, and  with  another  pistol  shot  himself,  the 
ball  passing  through  his  arm.  He  was  brought  down 
to  the  Burley  Tavern.  I  remember  going  into  the  bar 
room  of  the  tavern  and  seeing  him  lying  on  a  bench, 
perfectly  quiet.  He  would  not  answer  any  questions. 
His  design  had  been  to  end  the  Uves  of  both,  but  they 
both  recovered.  He  was  tried  and  found  guilty  of  as- 
sault with  intent  to  kill,  but  was  respited  on  account 
of  unsoundness  of  mind.  The  shooting  occurred  in 
the  hall  of  the  house  lately  occupied  by  Mrs.  Bick- 
ford  on  Cass  Street. 


COLORED  FOLK  IN  OLD  EXETER  85 

The  colored  population  in  my  early  days  was  larger 
than  now.  Some  were  descendants  of  slaves  owned  by 
prominent  families.  There  was  old  Katy,  who  lived  in  a 
cottage  long  ago  torn  down,  in  what  was  called  Lovers' 
Lane.  I  never  knew  her  last  name,  but  I  remember  her 
well.  We  children  had  the  impression  that  she  was  a 
miser.  Instead  of  stockings,  she  wore  strips  of  cotton  cloth 
wound  round  her  ankles  in  uneven  folds.  I  do  not 
know  what  she  did  for  a  living,  as  I  never  was  thrown 
in  her  way.  To  go  back  still  further,  there  was  Tobias 
Cutler,  a  Revolutionary  pensioner.  He  had  two  sons 
who  lived  and  died  here,  Rufus  and  Nathaniel,  and 
one  daughter,  who  married  George  Harris.  She  was  a 
very  respectable  and  sensible  woman  and  much  thought 
of.  Her  husband  left  her  a  very  comfortable  fortune. 
Another  Revolutionary  pensioner  was  Jude  Hall,  who 
was  remarkable  for  his  powerful  physique.  He  died 
when  I  was  four  years  old.  I  have  also  seen  some  mem- 
bers of  the  Paul  family,  who  were  preachers  in  the  Baptist 
denomination.  On  Linden  Street  was  an  old,  queer- 
looking  house,  near  a  very  pretty  growth  of  hard  wood 
trees,  called  ''Cuffee's  Woods."  My  impression  is  that 
in  that  house  lived  a  colored  man  by  the  name  of  Cuffee 
from  whom  the  woods  were  named.  Hannah  Blossom, 
who  hved  late  in  life  in  a  little  house  at  the  foot  of  what 
is  now  Green  Street,  had  formerly  been  a  domestic  in  some 
family.  These,  with  the  families  of  Husoe,  White,  and 
Wallace,  some  of  whom  have  left  descendants,  include 
all  the  colored  residents  of  the  town  whom  I  recall  as 
living  here  in  my  boyhood. 


ABOLITIONISTS  OF  EXETER 

Paper  read  to  the  Frauenverein 

I  UNDERSTAND  that  in  your  studies  of  United 
States  History  you  have  lately  been  interested  in 
the  great  Abolition  movement  which  commenced  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  twenties.  As  I  have  lived  through  all 
that  period,  I  will  try  to  relate  to  you  what  I  remember 
of  it.  In  its  beginnings  there  was  not  much  in  the  move- 
ment to  enlist  the  attention  of  a  little  boy.  Those  most 
interested  were  good  and  thoughtful  men  and  women, 
few  in  numbers,  scattered  in  location,  who  uttered 
their  sentiments  in  such  newspapers  as  were  willing 
to  publish  them,  and  also  in  tracts  which  were  freely 
circulated. 

The  great  work  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slave, 
and  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  people  on  the  subject, 
was  fairly  begun  when  Mr.  Garrison  started  his  news- 
paper, the  Liberator,  published  in  Boston.  The  apathy 
that  had  held  the  people  was  disturbed.  Two  parties 
were  engaged  in  trying  to  bring  to  an  end  the  evils 
of  slavery,  one  by  immediate  emancipation,  the  other 
by  colonization  of  the  negro  in  Africa.  While  I  was 
at  Dartmouth  the  plans  of  the  Colonization  Society 
enlisted  the  interest  of  the  students.  The  member- 
ship of  this  society  included  prominent  men  both  from 


ABOLITIONISTS  IN  EXETER  87 

the  North  and  the  South.  Quite  a  sum  of  money  was 
raised,  and  the  RepubHc  of  Liberia  was  founded, —  but 
the  problem  of  slavery  was  not  solved. 

The  first  leaders  among  the  AboHtionists  began, 
it  seems  to  me,  in  a  wrong  way.  They  were  abusive 
of  all  who  did  not  agree  with  them.  To  moderate 
people  they  seemed  fanatical,  and  their  plans  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  utterly  impracticable.  They  hiu*l- 
ed  their  invectives  at  church  and  state,  as  well  as 
at  individuals,  so  that  they  antagonized  a  large  portion 
of  the  community,  injuring  their  cause  thereby.  I  can 
remember  the  bitter  feeling  which  existed  against 
the  principal  leaders  and  speakers.  They  were  very 
able  men,  orators,  true  and  devoted  to  what  they 
thought  was  right;  and  if  they  could  have  pursued 
a  less  vituperative  course,  they  need  not  have  aroused 
the  prejudice  of  the  community. 

In  some  cases  they  were  far  from  agreement  among 
themselves.  In  his  History  of  Concord  Dr.  Bouton 
tells  of  a  meeting  of  the  New  Hampshire  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  when  "the  whole  day  was  spent  in  discussing 
the  question  whether  a  secretary  should  be  appointed 
and  the  meeting  regularly  organized  by  the  choice  of 
officers.  N.  P.  Rogers  of  Concord,  and  others,  spoke 
against  organization,  and  in  favor  of  allowing  every 
member  perfect  liberty.  Stephen  S.  Foster  of  Canter- 
bury was  in  favor  of  organization.  The  meeting  was 
spht  on  this  rock.'' 

Concord  was  the  scene  of  some  excitement  when 
George  Thompson,  an  Englishman,  attempted  to  hold 


88  EXETER  IN  1830 

meetings  there.     A  meeting  was  called  by  prominent 
citizens,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

^'Resolved:  That  we  behold  with  indignation  and 
disgust  the  intrusion  upon  us  of  foreign  emissaries, 
paid  by  the  money  of  open  enemies  to  our  form  of 
government,  who  are  traversing  the  country,  assailing 
its  institutions,  and  distracting  the  quiet  of  the  peo- 

ple.'^ 

When  Thompson  accompanied  by  Mr.  Whittier  at- 
tempted to  hold  a  meeting,  it  was  prevented  by  a  mob 
which  afterwards  burnt  an  effigy  in  the  State  House 
yard,  concluding  the  evening  with  fireworks  and  the 
discharge  of  cannon. 

My  uncle,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Perry  of  Groveland,  Massa- 
chusetts, who  was  interested  in  all  good  causes,  once 
joined  Mr.  Whittier  in  an  attempt  to  hold  an  anti- 
slavery  meeting  in  Newburyport.  They  were  refused  the 
use  of  one  church  after  another  and  finally  were  per- 
mitted by  a  friendly  baker  to  use  his  yard.  Dr.  Perry 
remarked  to  Mr.  Whittier:  ^^The  people  of  Newbury- 
port are  too  pious  to  be  good." 

I  am  afraid  I  cannot  tell  all  that  happened  in  Exeter, 
as  I  was  away  from  town  a  large  portion  of  the  years 
between  1838  and  1847,  and  so  was  not  a  witness  of  all 
the  exciting  events  that  occurred;  but  I  remember 
them  as  they  were  described  by  others. 

The  persons  in  this  town  who  were  pronounced 
AboHtionists  were  Woodbridge  Odlin,  Henry  Shute, 
James  G.  Page,  Joshua  Getchell,  Samuel  Tilton,  Ira 
Burnham,    and   some   women.     Probably   there   were 


ABOLITIONISTS  IN  EXETER  89 

others  whom  I  do  not  remember.  They  used  to  meet 
in  a  small  room  in  the  top  of  the  Methodist  meeting- 
house on  Portsmouth  Avenue;  and  afterwards  in  a 
back  room  of  the  building  on  Water  Street  lately  oc- 
cupied by  Mr.  Burpee  as  a  bakery.  What  they  did  in 
their  meetings  I  cannot  tell,  but  probably  they  en- 
couraged one  another  and  strengthened  themselves  in 
the  good  cause.  They  needed  this  communion,  for  they 
were  abused  and  reviled  for  the  stand  they  had  taken, 
but  they  remained  steadfast  to  the  end.  Some  riot- 
ous scenes  took  place  in  Exeter  in  connection  with 
public  meetings  held  to  discuss  the  abohtion  of  slavery. 
The  first  one  I  remember  was  when  a  meeting  was 
held  in  the  old  Methodist  meeting-house.  I  think  the 
speaker  was  a  Rev.  Mr.  Root;  I  do  not  know  where 
he  came  from.  I  do  not  think  he  was  in  the  same  class 
with  Garrison  and  Foster,  and  probably  his  lecture 
ought  not  to  have  offended  any  Northern  man;  but 
he  had  hardly  begun  when  stones  flew  through  the 
windows,  the  window  back  of  the  pulpit  was  smashed 
in,  and  a  mob  brought  the  fire  engine  and  threw  water 
into  the  room  through  the  opening.  Of  course  the  room 
was  cleared  and  the  meeting  broken  up.  I  cannot 
tell  what  became  of  the  Reverend  Root,  though  I 
know  he  was  not  injured. 

The  crowd  on  its  way  home  proposed  to  mob  Mr. 
Shute,  who  hved  near  the  bridge,  but  it  was  made 
known  that  he  was  absent  in  Maine,  and  no  damage 
was  done. 

At  another  time  a  meeting  was  advertised  to  be 


90  EXETER  IN  1830 

held  in  front  of  the  old  Town  hall  on  Court  Street, 
to  be  addressed  by  Stephen  Foster.  He  stood  in  the 
doorway,  the  crowd  trying  to  drown  him  out  by  noise 
and  shouting.  The  affair  ended  in  a  fight  and  Joseph 
Stockbridge,  a  drunken  fellow,  had  a  rib  broken. 

Miss  Betsey  Clifford  was  a  true  and  thorough  AboU- 
tionist.  I  have  lately  heard  a  story  that  as  no  pub- 
lic hall  could  be  procured  for  an  abolition  lecture  she 
opened  her  garden  for  the  purpose.  I  think  Frederick 
Douglass  was  one  of  the  speakers.  A  man  in  the  audi- 
ence tried  hard  to  break  up  the  meeting  by  shouting 
and  interrupting  the  speakers.  When  remonstrated  with, 
he  said  he  could  not  stand  there  and  hear  his  state  and 
country  abused. 

The  AboHtionists  did  their  share  of  interrupting. 
One  Sunday  morning  when  the  members  of  the  First 
Parish  had  assembled  for  their  usual  worship  they 
were  astonished  at  an  interruption  of  the  service  by 
a  voice  from  the  floor.  The  speaker  was  the  same 
Stephen  Foster,  howling  his  anathemas  against  church 
and  state.  They  tried  to  persuade  him  to  keep  silence, 
but  it  was  of  no  avail,  so  he  had  to  be  removed  by  force; 
and  as  he  was  a  non-resistant  he  lay  down  on  the  floor 
and  was  dragged  down  the  aisle  and  out,  haranguing 

all  the  way. 

Rev.  Mr.  Williams  came  here  from  Salem,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the  First  Parish. 
He  was  a  man  of  superior  intellect,  strong  and  decided 
in  his  views,  combative  in  temperament.  A  few  of  the 
prominent  Abolitionists  were  members  of  his  church  or 


ABOLITIONISTS  IN  EXETER  91 

parish.  It  was  the  custom  to  send  in  notices  of  aboHtion 
meetings  with  the  other  notices  on  Sunday,  but  Mr. 
WiUiams  would  not  read  them.  This  was  the  match 
that  Hghted  the  fire  of  that  unhappy  quarrel  which 
lasted  all  the  time  he  was  here,  estranged  old  friends, 
weakened  rehgion,  and  ended  as  far  as  he  was  concerned 
in  a  council,  which  I  beheve,  sustained  him;  but  the 
affair  drove  him  into  another  profession.  He  returned 
to  Salem,  where  he  practised  medicine,  and  died  a  few 
years  afterwards. 

I  have  mentioned  all  the  public  excitements  that 
attended  the  abolition  meetings  held  in  the  town. 
Of  the  men  living  now  who  were  present  at  one  or 
more  of  these  occasions  I  will  mention  Messrs.  John 
G.  Gilman,  William  Young,  Newell  Head,  and  George 
S.  Shute.  In  time  the  feehng  and  the  opposition  against 
these  lecturers  diminished  and  the  meetings  were 
held  undisturbed,  until  the  South  undertook  to  carry 
slavery  into  Texas  and  the  new  Territories.  This 
attempt  brought  out  the  Free  Soil  Party;  the  Civil 
War  followed,  and  the  freeing  of  the  slave —  a  blessed 
result  for  the  country,  though  bought  at  a  great  price. 
I  cannot  express  the  bitterness  of  the  whole  thing;  I 
must  leave  it  to  your  imagination. 

In  closing,  I  thank  you  for  your  polite  invitation 
and  hope  that  this  feeble  statement  may  have  in- 
terested you. 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  1850 

I  HAVE  selected  the  Public  Schools  as  a  topic  of  in- 
terest to  a  Parish  whose  history  rims  back  to  the 
time  of  the  first  settlers,  for  it  is  the  boast  of  New 
England  that  our  Puritan  forefathers  founded  their 
commonwealth  on  the  Church  and  the  School. 

We  learn  from  Bell's  History  that  among  the  first 
inhabitants  of  Exeter  was  an  experienced  schoolmaster, 
Philemon  Pormont  by  name,  and  that  he  had  capable 
successors. 

In  1703  a  school  was  held  in  the  old  meeting-house 
of  this  Parish  on  the  Newmarket  road,  and  in  1707 
the  town  voted  to  build  a  school  house  near  the  '^new 
meeting  house,''  which  stood  on  the  same  lot  as  the 
present  building. 

But  I  do  not  propose  in  speaking  of  the  schools  of 
Exeter  to  go  back  of  my  own  remembrance.  As  a 
pupil  I  knew  nothing  of  the  pubUc  schools,  for  I  never 
saw  the  inside  of  one  until  I  went  into  them  as  one  of 
the  superintending  school  committee.  When  not  much 
over  three  years  old  I  was  sent  to  a  dame  school, 
and  continued  in  such  schools  till  I  was  eight,  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  time  when  a  man  kept  a  private 
school  in  the  building  belonging  to  the  First  Parish, 
on  Centre  Street. 

After  spending  a  year  at  an  academy  in  Massachu- 
setts, I  was  launched  into  the  Phillips  Exeter  Academy 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  1850  93 

at  the  age  of  ten.  I  had  been  taught  reading,  spelling, 
and  geography  very  well,  but  very  little  arithmetic, 
and  no  English  grammar.  At  the  age  of  eight,  Latin 
grammar  was  commenced.  I  have  since  regretted 
that  I  did  not  have  the  privilege  of  the  systematic 
course  of  instruction  that  is  afforded  by  the  public 
school  system  of  later  years. 

There  have  been  a  number  of  private  schools  in  town, 
both  for  boys  and  girls.  The  most  prominent  was  the 
Exeter  Female  Academy,  which  was  founded  in  the 
thirties,  and  kept  up,  though  not  continuously,  till 
it  was  superseded  by  the  Seminary.  It  attracted  a 
number  of  pupils  from  out  of  town,  as  it  was  considered 
an  advantage  to  young  girls  to  be  trained  in  the  cul- 
tured atmosphere  of  Exeter. 

In  the  early  forties  the  house  this  side  of  Miss  Harvey's 
was  built  for  a  school  house  by  old  Mr.  Daniel  Veasey, 
and  his  son  John  kept  a  private  school  there. 

In  1807  the  town  was  first  divided  into  six  school 
districts,  which  were  maintained  until  the  district  system 
was  given  up.  The  town  chose  the  Superintending 
School  Committee,  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  and 
approve  teachers,  to  visit  all  the  schools,  and  report 
their  condition  to  the  town.  When  I  commenced  service 
on  that  board  we  had  to  read  our  report  in  open  Town 
Meeting.  We  were  paid  twenty-five  dollars  a  year 
each,  and  we  had  to  find  a  horse  and  carriage  to  ride  to 
the  outside  districts. 

Each  district  chose  its  own  '' Prudential  Committee"; 
their  duty  was  to  procure  teachers  and  hire  them  if 


94  EXETER  IN  1830 

they  passed  the  examination  of  the  town  committee; 
also  to  buy  the  wood,  brooms,  and  pails,  and  take  care 
of  the  school  houses.  I  think  twenty-five  dollars  was 
all  that  the  committee  of  three  received.  When  I  was 
in  office,  1850  to  1854,  schools  were  kept  in  all  the  dis- 
tricts, and  they  had  scholars  too,  children  of  native 
ancestry.  I  have  known  about  eight  hundred  and  forty 
scholars  in  attendance  with  fewer  school  buildings  than 
now,  but  the  rooms  were  badly  crowded. 

The  first  district  comprised  the  chief  part  of  the  village, 
and  maintained  four  primary  and  two  grammar  schools. 
The  High  School  was  started  in  1848,  and  the  building 
erected  at  the  expense  of  this  district.  Pupils  from 
other  parts  of  the  town  had  no  claim  upon  it. 

The  first  teacher  of  the  Spring  Street  Grammar  School, 
whom  I  remember,  was  Mr.  J.  T.  Burnham.  As  he 
boarded  in  the  house  next  to  us,  we  knew  him  well. 
I  think  he  gave  up  teaching  in  my  earliest  childhood. 
Master  Bmrnham,  as  he  was  called,  was  a  man  of  large 
statiu'e,  a  very  pleasant  man. 

He  was  followed  by  the  Reverend  Ferdinand  Elhs,  a 
Baptist  clergyman,  a  very  good  scholar,  who  had  been 
tutor  in  Brown  University.  I  think  he  taught  the  boys 
well,  but  he  had  a  most  ungovernable  temper  that  must 
have  impaired  his  usefulness.  He  used  a  rawhide,  as  it 
was  called  in  those  days,  a  cruel  weapon,  as  some  hving 
here  now  can  testify.  This  temper,  I  judge,  was  the 
obstacle  to  his  higher  advancement.  He  taught  in  a 
wooden  building  of  two  rooms,  one  much  larger  than 
the  other.    It  had  a  small  cupola  with  a  representation 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  1850  95 

of  a  quill  pen  for  a  vane.  In  the  small  room  his  daughter 
Charlotte  taught.  She  and  her  sister  Rhoda  were  two 
uncommon  teachers  of  young  children,  and  they  taught 
in  this  town  for  many  years. 

The  school  building  in  Hall  Place  was  of  brick,  and 
was  built  somewhere  between  1823  and  1830.  It  had 
two  rooms.  Miss  Martha  Rogers  taught  there  for  some 
years,  and  was  much  thought  of,  both  personally  and 
as  a  teacher.    She  married  and  left  town. 

The  only  school  house  in  District  Number  2  was  the 
old  brick  building  on  Park  Street,  recently  torn  down. 
I  think  that  no  one  teacher  served  there  as  long  as  did 
Mr.  Ellis,  Mr.  Thompson,  and  Mr.  French,  in  Number  1. 
The  four  outside  districts  had  regular  summer  and  winter 
schools,  each  with  a  respectable  number  of  scholars. 
We  may  ask,  where  are  their  successors? 

In  the  year  ending  March  9th,  1852,  the  number  of 
children  attending  school  in  the  four  outl3dng  districts 
was  126.  In  the  next  year  it  was  137.  In  these  districts 
the  winter  term  of  school  was  frequently  taught  by  a 
man,  the  sununer  term  always  by  a  woman.  The  average 
wages  of  male  teachers  for  all  the  districts  was  $25.42 
a  month,  for  women  $8.50,  exclusive  of  board  in  both 
cases. 

One  matter  in  which  there  has  been  marked  improve- 
ment is  regularity  of  attendance.  We  find  in  the  old 
reports  many  references  to  the  non-attendance  of  pupils. 
I  quote  from  the  report  of  1853 : 

'^As  regards  attendance,  this  year  is  an  improvement 
on  the  last, —  the  percentage  of  absence  is  not  so  great, 


96  EXETER  IN  1830 

though  it  is  much  larger  than  it  ought  to  be.  Fully 
one-third  of  all  the  children  that  have  attended  school 
two  weeks  during  the  year  have  been  virtually  absent 
the  rest  of  the  time.  A  law  was  passed  at  the  last  session 
of  the  legislature  in  regard  to  truants,  but  we  cannot 
avail  omrselves  of  its  benefits  until  it  has  been  adopted 
at  some  legal  meeting  of  the  town.  This  year  we  have 
mentioned  the  names  of  some  who,  by  constant  attend- 
ance, deserve  this  credit,  as  an  inducement  to  excite  in 
all  a  desire  to  be  punctual  and  constant. '^ 

I  have  here  copies  of  two  of  the  oldest  printed  reports. 
One  of  them  was  written  by  Professor  Joseph  G.  Hoyt, 
of  the  Academy.  His  reports  were  lively  and  original, 
and  were  read  with  much  interest.  The  committee  of 
which  he  was  a  member  was  not  afraid  of  plain  speaking. 
The  report  for  1848  describes  a  certain  teacher  as  ^'a 
beginner  who,  in  intellectual  discipline  and  furniture, 
was  none  too  well  qualified  for  her  responsible  office.^* 
Of  another  school  it  was  said:  ^^ There  was  neither  law 
nor  order,  authority  nor  obedience,  study  nor  improve- 
ment." 

Of  a  school  house  in  District  Number  5  the  committee 
reported  to  the  Town  Meeting:  ''In  this  district,  as  in 
District  No.  4,  there  is  no  blackboard, —  an  article  as 
indispensable  to  a  teacher  as  a  plough  to  a  farmer.  *  *  * 
The  school  house  itself  is  a  mournful  relic  of  the  past. 
The  black  and  dingy  exterior  contrasts  drearily  with 
the  rich  and  painted  farm  houses  about  it;  its  uneven 
billowy  floor  and  hearth  surge  like  the  sea  in  a  storm; 
its  stove  looks  antediluvian  and  might  have  been  used 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  1850  97 

in  the  ark;  its  doors  hang  convulsively  to  broken  hinges, 
and  one  of  them  when  opened  screeches  like  a  stirred-up 
hyena." 

The  conunittee  of  1848  objected  to  unventilated 
rooms,  and  said  so  plainly: 

*'If  hard-headed,  tough-rinded  men  like  your  Conunit- 
tee, cannot  breathe  for  half  a  session  the  air  of  our 
school  rooms  without  the  most  sickening  nausea  and 
vertigo,  what,  it  might  be  asked,  must  be  its  effect 
upon  young  children  who  are  obliged  to  inhale  the  fetid 
stuff  for  six  mortal  hours?  We  have  sat  some  afternoons 
in  school  rooms  in  this  town  where  it  would  be  hardly 
a  figure  of  speech  to  say  that  the  foul  and  putrid  air 
was  Hhick  and  slab'  enough  to  slice  —  air,  certainly, 
such  as  no  grown  up  man  has  been  compelled  to  live  in 
since  the  days  of  Jonah/' 

As  a  contrast  to  these  vigorous  denunciations  we  find 
in  the  report  for  1853  this  high-sounding  eulogy  of  the 
present  Grove  Street  school  house: 

^'This  School-house  is  a  model  one  —  beautiful  in  its 
architectural  design,  admirably  arranged  and  fmrnished 
for  its  purpose  —  a  standing  monument  of  the  good 
taste  of  the  gentlemen  who  conceived  and  superintended 
its  erection  —  a  credit  to  the  liberality  of  the  District, 
and  an  ornament  to  the  village.  The  time  when  any 
building  was  thought  good  enough  for  a  School-house, 
that  was  capable  of  defending  its  inmates  from  the  in- 
clemencies of  the  weather,  (and  in  many  that  was  not 
thought  to  be  a  requisite)  has  passed  away  and  a  new 
age  commenced.    Now,  school  buildings  must  be  con- 


98  EXETER  IN  1830 

structed  on  certain  fixed  principles;  each  scholar  must 
have  so  many  cubic  inches  of  air,  an  opening  in  the  roof 
to  let  the  bad  air  out,  (while  the  old  ones  had  many 
holes  to  let  the  pure  in)  the  outside  and  inside  must  be 
finished  in  accordance  with  the  refined  rules  of  archi- 
tecture; in  fine,  so  as  to  please  the  eye  of  the  most 
sensitive  critic  in  such  matters.  This  edifice,  moreover, 
has  the  advantages  of  more  costly  structures,  while  it 
exceeds  them  in  the  simple  but  accurate  taste  of  design. 
Architecture  has  been  likened  by  Madame  de  Stael  to 
frozen  music;  and  cannot  we  hope  that  the  fine  taste 
exhibited  in  this  building  may  give  a  more  refined  and 
elevated  tone  to  the  minds  of  these  children?" 


COMMERCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE 

IN  1830     . 

From  Occasional  Papers 

LET  US  look  back  at  the  business  of  Exeter  as  it  was 
in  my  boyhood.  I  do  not  remember  the  time  when 
ship  building  was  a  great  industry,  and  large 
vessels  for  that  day  were  built  here.  Shops  for  the  forging 
of  chains,  anchors,  and  the  iron  work  of  ships  were  in 
operation  along  the  riverside.  There  were  also  works 
for  expressing  oil,  the  building  for  which  I  can  just 
recollect.  There  were  woolen  mills,  and  I  remember  the 
starting  of  the  cotton  factory,  which  gave  an  impetus 
to  the  town. 

The  publishing  house  of  J.  &  B.  WiUiams  brought  out 
many  popular  works,  which  were  sent  to  the  trade  sales 
in  the  large  cities.  Among  the  books  published  by  them 
were  the  Waverley  Novels,  Marryat's  and  Jane  Porter's 
novels,  and  the  ^'Biography  of  Eminent  Men.'' 

After  the  publishing  business  failed,  book  binding  was 
still  carried  on  by  Francis  Grant  in  connection  with 
his  circulating  library  of  many  rare  old  books.  These 
were  sold  by  auction  after  his  death,  but  the  apathy  of 
our  citizens  allowed  them  to  go  to  another  town.  (Large- 
ly to  the  Portsmouth  Athenaeum.) 

Carriage  building  was  carried  on  extensively,  and  an 
Exeter  chaise  had  a  very  good  name.  There  were  tan- 
neries and  morocco  dressing  in  Tan  Lane  and  on  New- 


100  EXETER  IN  1830 

market  road.  Flagg's  paper  mills  prospered  till  they 
bm*ned  down,  and  the  powder  mills  till  they  blew  up. 
Wool  pulling  was  an  active  and  profitable  industry. 
Gas  pipe  works  employed  a  large  number  of  hands. 
The  trade  of  some  of  the  stores  was  more  extensive  than 
now.  In  the  winter  produce  was  brought  in  pungs 
from  the  northern  part  of  the  state  and  Vermont,  and 
exchanged  for  salt,  southern  corn,  and  fish.  Rum  was 
sold  then,  and  drunk,  too,  but  outside  of  the  taverns  it 
was  sold  only  in  grocery  stores. 

In  those  days  everyone  had  employment  the  year 
round.  There  were  no  strikes  or  labor  unions.  The 
working  class  were  generally  industrious  and  prudent; 
the  factory  girls  were  the  daughters  of  respectable 
farmers,  and  a  good  addition  to  the  town.  It  was  easy 
to  obtain  help  out  of  doors  and  in  the  house.  The  topic 
of  the  inefficiency  and  scarcity  of  servants  was  not 
brought  up  at  sewing  societies  or  the  morning  call. 

In  those  days  the  money  was  mostly  spent  at  home. 
We  did  not  have  to  go  to  Boston  for  our  clothes.  Bon- 
nets and  dresses  were  handed  down  to  the  latest  genera- 
tions. What  an  amount  of  care  and  perplexity  was 
thus  saved!  People  worked  then  as  now,  but  did  not 
need  a  change  every  few  months;  nervous  prostration 
was  an  unheard-of  disease.  Summer  was  spent  at  home, 
practising  the  duties  of  hospitality.  The  children  went 
to  school  the  year  round,  were  rosy  and  healthy;  and 
they  learned  to  spell,  and  to  respect  their  elders.  Parties 
and  gatherings  were  attended  by  old  and  young  together, 
and  that  was  a  benefit  to  both. 


COMMERCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE  101 

'pXETER  was  a  pleasant  place  to  live  in,  in  my  earliest 
recollection  of  it,  though  in  habits  and  manner  of  living 
very  different  from  what  it  is  now.  All  the  people  who 
wanted  work  had  it;  the  pay  was  not  large,  but  expenses 
were  small.  There  was  good  trade  in  the  stores,  the 
dwellers  in  neighboring  towns  coming  in  for  that  purpose 
more  generally  than  now.  The  merchants  went  to 
Boston  in  the  spring  and  fall  and  bought  goods  to  last 
them  through  the  following  months.  They  spent  two 
or  three  days  in  selecting  their  stock,  shipping  it  to 
Portsmouth  to  be  reloaded  on  Captain  Furnald's  packet 
for  Exeter.  Quite  a  little  time  it  took  to  get  the  goods 
here,  and  a  lively  day  it  was,  and  very  interesting  for 
us  boys,  when  the  packet  discharged  her  cargo.  It  was 
then  that  an  old  fashioned  dray,  called  the  Boston 
truck,  appeared,  a  very  handy  vehicle  for  carrying 
hogsheads  and  barrels.  This  form  of  dray  was  much 
used  in  Boston  in  those  days,  but  is  not  seen  now. 
They  were  too  long  for  the  narrow  streets. 

Captain  Furnald  was  very  good  and  kind  to  us  chil- 
dren, for  he  had  a  large  fine  family  of  his  own.  He  died 
many  years  ago,  much  respected. 

In  winter  days  you  could  see  on  Water  Street  a  long 
row  of  pungs  from  far  back  in  the  state,  loaded  with 
butter  and  dried  apples  and  carcasses  of  mutton  (sold 
as  low  as  2  1-2  cents  a  pound),  which  were  exchanged 
for  salt,  southern  corn,  and  fish.  Fresh  fish  was  carried 
away  frozen,  and  the  drivers  of  the  pungs  fed  chiefly, 
during  their  journey,  on  chunks  cut  from  frozen  masses 
of  baked  beans.    Salt  was  in  great  demand.    The  clerks 


102  EXETER  IN  1830 

were  kept  busy,  shovelling  and  measuring  the  corn  and 
salt,  which  were  brought  in  bulk  by  water,  and  dumped 
on  the  lower  floors  of  the  stores  opening  toward  the 
river.  The  flour  came  mostly  from  Baltimore,  for  there 
was  not  much  of  a  ''West"  in  those  days. 

Farm  work  and  teaming  were  done  principally  with 
oxen.  Wood  was  the  only  fuel;  it  came  into  town 
mostly  by  the  Epping  road,  and  when  there  was  snow 
it  was  annoying  to  drive  on  that  road  because  you  met 
so  many  of  these  ox  teams  drawing  wood.  The  first 
coal  I  ever  saw  was  a  small  quantity  which  my  father 
procured  somewhere  for  an  experimental  purpose.  In 
Groveland,  Massachusetts,  where  I  went  to  an  academy 
when  I  was  a  little  over  eight  years  old,  peat  was  used 
considerably.  I  do  not  remember  much  about  it,  except 
that  it  kept  afire  for  a  long  time. 

The  stores  did  not  deliver  goods,  neither  was  milk 
carried  from  house  to  house.  Most  of  the  well-to-do 
families  kept  one  or  two  cows,  and  those  that  did  not 
bought  milk  from  their  neighbors.  Oxen  were  kept  in  the 
village.  I  can  remember  when  my  father  had  in  his 
barn  two  cows,  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  four  horses.  The 
boys  of  the  family  used  to  drive  the  cows  to  and  from 
pasture. 

I  hope  in  this  sHght  sketch  I  have  made  plain  some 
of  the  differences  between  the  times  of  four  score  years 
ago  and  now.  For  the  lack  of  some  modern  advantages 
there  was  this  compensation:  the  people  were  generally 
contented  with  their  lot,  and  this  cannot  be  said  to  be 
true  of  the  present  times. 


>t 


•■'  i 


